Worcester claimed their first Premiership win of the season when they beat London Irish 35-11 at Sixways on Friday.
Irish took the early initiative, as Ofisa Treviranus dotted down in the corner, and although Steven Shingler missed his conversion attempt, he made amends by slotting home a penalty goal minutes later.
Worcester reduced the deficit halfway into the first period, as Aleki Lutui drove over for Andy Goode to convert. The Exiles' Sailosi Tagicakibau was yellow carded on the half hour, allowing Goode the opportunity to regain the lead for Worcester with his second kick of the game, giving the home side a 10-8 lead.
The Warriors' fly-half stretched the lead again with two more penalties, as Shingler added one of his own, before missing the opportunity to keep up with the home side, as he kicked wide from the half-way line.
Irish indiscipline at the breakdown led to Jamie Gibson's sin-binning on the hour, and with the numerical advantage once more, David Lemi dotted down in the corner after being set up by Chris Pennell, and although Goode's kicking had been impressive all night, his conversion attempt hit the post.
Leading 21-11 going in to the last ten minutes, the Warriors pinned their visitors back inside their own half. That pressure told with three minutes left on the clock, a converted Semisi Taulava try confirming the win, while Jon Clarke earned the try-scoring bonus point, and with Goode adding the extras once more, it made up for a convincing win for the Sixways men.
The scorers:
For Worcester:
Tries: Lutui, Lemi, Taulava, Clarke
Cons: Goode 3
Pen: Goode 3
For London Irish:
Try: Treviranus
Pens: Shingler 2
Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 David Lemi, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Matt Kvesic, 7 Sam Betty, 6 Chris Jones, 5 Dean Schofield (c), 4 James Percival, 3 John Andress, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Ollie Hayes, 17 Ceri Jones, 18 James Currie, 19 Craig Gillies, 20 Semisi Taulava, 21 Ollie Frost, 22 Joe Carlisle, 23 Jon Clarke.
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Steven Shingler, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Tomás O'Leary, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Declan Danaher (capt), 5 Matt Garvey, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Max Lahiff.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Malton, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Alan Cotter, 19 George Skivington, 20 Alex Gray, 21 Topsy Ojo, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Jack Moates.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Comments
TVaddict says...
I had hoped LI would win this one, but to give the bonus point away to a team which always struggles to score tries is just embarrassing! Must be getting an average of 2 yellow cards a match, and the less said about the defence the better!
@ArmchairGeneral
I think it's a mixture of things really. We lost a lot of key players over the last few seasons like the Armitage brothers, Kennedy, Bowden, and many others. That coupled with a completely new coaching team basically make this a completely different team that it was 2-3 years ago. I feel like we're in a similar position to Wasp last season. A lot of young English talent, but without the core of experienced players to hold it together it's not working. Though in a year or two we, and England, should reap the benefits.
Posted 11:06 29th September 2012
sextons_on_fire says...
Humphreys and Quasimodo as half-back...what do you expect??? hahahaha BOOM
Posted 10:40 29th September 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
What is going wrong with the Exiles???? Coach or pack?
Posted 09:56 29th September 2012