Worcester Warriors 43 Nottingham 22
British & Irish Cup
Geoff Berkeley reports from Sixways
SO WHAT is Worcester Warriors’ best team? It seems to be the question on every supporter’s lips at the moment and Worcester’s clash against Nottingham should have gone someway to answering it.
With the likes of Chris Pennell, Jonathan Thomas, GJ Van Velze, Ryan Mills and Agustin Creevy lining up alongside each other for the first time, it was arguably the strongest 15 Warriors have fielded yet.
But as they stuttered their way to a sixth straight success in the British & Irish Cup there was an overriding sense of disappointment in the stands.
The final score may have looked convincing, but the performance certainly was not one to suggest they were the men to return Warriors to the Aviva Premiership.
Head coach Carl Hogg admitted his side looked “rusty” and “disjointed” in the opening stages as Nottingham led for much of the first half.
But Hogg urged fans to stay patient as he believes his stars would start to shine once they got minutes under their belts.
“We looked a bit disjointed in the first 20 minutes, but that’s part and parcel of reintegrating players,” he said.
“Some players have been away on international duty, while others have come through conditioning blocks, so there is always going to be a bedding in period.
“It is great to have the likes of Gus (Creevy) back as he has great international standing having captained Argentina in the Rugby Championship.
“But I think it will take him a bit of time to settle down and find his feet.”
One of the main positions up for debate is fly half with Ryan Lamb, Ignacio Mieres and Tiff Eden all battling it out for the jersey.
Lamb has all the tricks and flicks to get the back-line going, but as his wayward attempt at a cross-field kick early on showed his ambition can sometimes cloud his judgement.
Then there is the pack, which on paper looked like it was going to cause Nottingham a heap of problems, with Creevy added to the mix.
But in the end, it struggled to gain the dominance it has been so used to as George Porter, who has been shipped out on loan to Nottingham, demonstrated why he could still have a future at the club.
It was perhaps no surprise then when the visitors took the lead on the 14th minute, with Liam O’Neill diving over in the corner.
Lamb cut back the deficit from the tee, but Dan Mugford’s penalty eight minutes later gave Nottingham an 8-3 lead.
This lasted up until the 36th minute as Warriors’ spurned a host of chances before their endeavour was eventually rewarded.
Prop Val Rapava Ruskin was among those to find life tough in the tight areas, but in the loose he has proven to have an eye for a try and he made sure he got over the whitewash when he collected Chris Pennell’s pass.
Mills and Max Stelling were also showing promise of becoming a superb centre partnership for Warriors and the two combined for their side’s second try, with Stelling going in under the posts.
Sam Smith added another after the break to make it 24-8 as Worcester looked set to ease to victory, but Notts did not go away.
A penalty try was followed by replacement prop Jon Vickers crashing over to give their side a way back into the match. But these were sandwiched by two tries from Sam Betty who encapsulated Warriors’ will to win.
The fearless flanker’s first came after he charged down a clearance kick to score near the posts before he dented Notts’ hopes when getting on the end of a driving maul with ten minutes remaining.
Mills also looked sharp in the latter stages when he switched to ten, while Andy Symons capped off an impressive cameo with a conversion and a try late on.
So as Warriors gear up for their return to league action next Saturday, it appears director of rugby Dean Ryan will have plenty to think about when selecting his side to face London Scottish.