WORCESTER WARRIORS 11

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 15

Guinness Premiership round 12

Sixways

Saturday, January 7, 2006

Less than two minutes into the game Worcester had a chance to open the scoring. Mark Robinson was penalised for holding the ball in the tackle, and the home fans were baying when Matt Powell stayed down holding his head. Paul Tupai received a ticking-off, but both he and Robinson were let off as James Brown missed the 40-metre penalty.

With the heavy conditions, and with a line-out in dominant form, it was no surprise when Brown opted for the corner from a similar distance in Worcester's next attack. Saints' pack repelled the drive, but when Aisea Havili broke the tackle the hosts should have scored nonetheless. But Havili ignored the two men outside him and was held short by Robinson and Bruce Reihana. The try may have been saved but a penalty was conceded after the resultant scrum, converted by Brown for a 3-nil home lead.

Whereas Worcester were keeping things tight, Saints chose to attack through the centres, with debutant Robbie Kydd seeing some early action. Nevertheless, it was Worcester who still held the initiative for much of the remainder of the first quarter, and Kydd's centre partner Jon Clarke was also called into action, spiralling a 50-metre touch-finder from within his 22.

Kydd and Clarke combined to stretch the Worcester defence as the second quarter opened, minutes also notable for Carlos Spencer's first Saints penalty attempt. It was a tough chance that faded left, but a show of the ball in the next play saw Spencer put Ben Lewitt through the defence, sparking Saints' best passage of the match.

Chris Budgen was held up, and Clarke twice came close to breaking the line as Saints demonstrated imagination that belied the conditions, the highlight being some lovely interplay between Robinson, Reihana and Daniel Browne. The Warriors defence remained resolute though and Saints had to content themselves with a 32nd minute Reihana penalty.

A turnover just outside Saints' 22 had Worcester back on the attack, and Robinson had to be alert to touch down a Warrior hack. The hosts remained deep in Saints territory as the half drew to a close, but it was the visitors who looked to shrug off the conditions as Reihana twice sought to launch attacks from his own line. Both ran aground with the last tackler, however, and Worcester had the scoring chance. But Brown's second penalty miss ended the half with the scores still tied at 3-apiece.

The second half belonged to the visitors from the whistle, as various Worcester kicks were returned with intent, particularly by Reihana and injury returnee Ben Cohen. But again, and as for much of the 40 minutes, the Worcester defence was solid, and Reihana missed a 48th minute opportunity to give his side the lead.

The Northampton pressure was relentless, and one-by-one the pack edged on around the fringes. As before the break the whitewash came within tantalising reach, but when Worcester found themselves in Saints territory for the first time 10 minutes into the half the storm looked to have blown itself out.

But just past the hour all that gold effort was rewarded. Cohen's loop from the left looked to have created an overlap in the right corner, and space was indeed created. But it was on the left, and Reihana put his co-captain Steve Thompson over. Shane Drahm pulled three points back with his first kick of the game immediately after the kick-off, but all this did was provoke Saints once more into action.

Clarke broke no less than four tackles on his way towards the line, and with space created once more on the left Spencer chipped for the leaping Cohen to touch down for the try. Spencer nailed the touchline conversion to put Saints nine points to the good with just over 10 minutes left.

The extras were made even more valuable seven minutes later when Drahm put Kai Horstmann over for Worcester's sole try. But the Australian missed the conversion to keep his old side four points ahead. And when Havili dived over Drahm's match-winning knack looked to have struck again. But his pass to the winger was ruled forward and Saints held out for the final seconds to record a priceless win.

Teams:
Worcester Warriors - Delport; Havili, Rasmussen, Lombard, Tucker; Brown (Drahm 51mins), Powell (Gomarsall 63mins); Windo (capt), C Fortey (Hickie 31-40mins), Taumopeau (L Fortey 73mins), Murphy (O'Donoghue 59mins), Gillies, Horstmannn, Tuamoheloa (Harding 66mins), Hickey.

Northampton Saints - Reihana (co-capt); Lamont, Clarke, Kydd (Vilk 63mins), Rudd (Cohen 35mins); Spencer, Robinson; Smith (Emms 59mins), Thompson (co-capt), Budgen (Hartley 76mins), Damien Browne, Lord (Gerard 59mins), Tupai, Lewitt, Daniel Browne (Seely 59mins).

Scorers:
Worcester Warriors - Try: Horstmann; Pens: Brown, Drahm.

Northampton Saints - Tries: Thompson, Cohen; Con: Spencer; Pen: Reihana.

Attendance:
9,726

CLOCKWATCH:
10mins Worcs: Pen Brown 3-0
32mins Saints: Pen Reihana 3-3
62mins Saints: Try Thompson 3-8
65mins Worcs: Pen Drahm 6-8
67mins Saints: Try Cohen Con Spencer 6-15
75mins Worcs: Try Horstmann 11-15