THERE were enough encouraging signs out of Worcester’s performance to suggest that the Premiership newcomers will not be the relegation cannon fodder that has been widely predicted. They may have lost their third successive match as Bath belatedly got off the mark this season, but it was a close call and the morale-boosting first victory should not be too long in coming.
Quite when that is might well depend on the wellbeing of Tommy Hayes, their fly half from the Cook Islands. Bizarrely, Hayes started the game at centre and only belatedly moved to No 10 in the second half, once James Brown was substituted.
Immediately Hayes, who kicked 17 points, profited from Bath’s ill-discipline and brought control to Worcester’s game as they dominated the half. However, he ended the match hobbling with what looked like a serious knee injury. The doctor’s report will be anxiously awaited at Sixways this morning as it will on the prop forwards, Chris Horsman, Neil Lyman and Colin Noon, all of whom are injured and whose combined absence meant the Worcester scrum was under much pressure.
At this level, Worcester cannot afford to gamble with positional play or by not picking their best players. Pairing the inexperienced Brown with Neil Cole at half back failed.
Worcester’s propensity for elementary mistakes and a lack of precision undid a lot of the sterling efforts of their forwards, among whom Tim Collier, the newly-signed lock from London Welsh, showed again he could be one of the inspired buys of the year. Still, errors can be worked on and should gradually be eliminated as Worcester adjust to the pace of life in the Premiership.
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SCORERS: Worcester: Try: Lombard (44min). Conversion: Hayes. Penalty goals: Hayes 5: (5, 31, 36, 40+1, 63). Bath: Tries: Daniel (3), Tindall (20). Conversions: Barkley 2. Dropped goal: Barkley. Penalty goals: Barkley 3 (33, 43, 48).
SCORING SEQUENCE:(Worcester first): 0-7, 3-7, 3-10, 3-17, 6-17, 6-20, 9-20, 12-20 (half-time), 12-23, 19-23, 19-26, 22-26.
WORCESTER: T Delport; D O’Leary, T Hayes, G Trueman (rep: B Hinshelwood, 24), T Lombard; J Brown (rep: D Roke, 57), N Cole (rep: C Stuart-Smith, 74); T Windo, B Daly (rep: A van Niekerk, 68), L Fortey (rep: S Sparks, 63), T Collier, C Gillies, L Greeff, P Sanderson, B MacLeod-Henderson (rep: D Hickey, 55).
BATH: J Maddock; A Crockett, R Fleck, M Tindall (sin-bin 40+1 - 49, rep: S Davey, 65), B Daniel; O Barkley, M Wood; D Barnes (rep: M Stevens, 31), J Humphreys (rep: L Mears, 48), D Bell (rep: D Barnes, 68), S Borthwick, D Grewcock, A Beattie, M Lipman, I Feaunati.
Referee: D Pearson.