Greene King IPA Championship
Play off semi-final second leg
Geoff Berkeley reports from Sixways
IT WAS a night which could have gone all wrong for Worcester Warriors.
With confidence low following a string of injuries and with heavy showers looking like it might favour a bullish London Scottish outfit, the prospect of a slip up was there.
But despite falling behind to a Matt Williams try, shortly after Ben Howard added to his side’s injury woes, the hosts demonstrated their resilience.
Flanker Sam Lewis was dragged over the whitewash on two occasions as Worcester’s forwards dismantled Scottish.
Skipper GJ Van Velze and Dean Hammond also went over, while Ryan Lamb guided Warriors to an impressive aggregate victory of 65-37 with an 18-point haul.
And director of rugby Dean Ryan was full of praise of his Warriors side who will now take on Bristol in a two-legged final later this month.
“I thought we were much more robust,” he said. “We were really strong up front and Lamby steered them around really smartly in a contest which could have been nervy.
“It was our first aggregate game together and when they go 5-0 up it can throw some snappers in the works.
“But I thought we looked very composure, so just having that age and extra meat gave us a really physical presence in difficult weather conditions.”
As well as losing Howard, Hammond was also forced off with a thigh injury and Ryan said he was delighted with how well his players responded to the set-backs.
“I don’t think we have anyone else left to examine in the backs, but if the play offs are going to be a test of a rugby club then I am pretty happy with us,” he said.
“That’s the third week in a row we have lost someone within the first three or four minutes and all in the back three.
“But every time we have worked it out. We had two injuries today, but by the end of it after working out a few bumps in the road we looked composed again, so I am pretty pleased with how well we coped.”
The first of those set backs came within the opening minute when Howard suffered a blow to his head. The full back tried to carry on, but it was a decision which backfired as he misjudged a high ball and was forced into the dead ball area.
From the resultant five-metre scrum, Scottish sent the ball wide to Williams to score in the corner.
This could have rattled Worcester as the visitors drew level in the tie, but Worcester instead kept their cool as Lamb dispatched successive conversions to his side back in front.
The hosts pack was also gaining momentum and on the half hour mark their forward power proved decisive. A 15-metre driving maul saw Lewis touch down. Lamb added the extras.
The Exiles were not going away, though, as Peter Lydon scored the last points of the first half to trail 13-8 at the break.
However, two tries in as many minutes at the start of the second half, turned the match heavily in Warriors’ favour.
The first came from a piece of brilliance from Cooper Vuna as he collected a high ball and burst through a gap before providing the scoring pass to Hammond.
The second came from Worcester’s power as Van Velze got on the end of a forward surge to put Warriors 25-8 in front.
Scottish were offered a life-line when Ryan Mills’ kick was closed down and Lydon strolled through to score before converting it.
But Worcester soon wrestled back control in the driving rain and scored their fourth try of the match. Lewis was once again the beneficiary of well-constructed catch and drive as he burrowed over.
After landing the conversion, Lamb then sealed the victory with two late penalties as Scottish lost their talisman Mark Bright to a yellow card.