All smiles at Sixways as Worcester clinch safety and Gloucester seal play-off spot
Worcester secured Gallagher Premiership safety – and Gloucester reached the play-offs – after Warriors won an enthralling tussle 27-20 at Sixways.
Worcester’s victory put them 11 points clear of bottom club Newcastle with two games left, and the Falcons will be relegated if they do not beat Gloucester next weekend or Leicester beat Harlequins on Friday.
Danny Cipriani ran the show for Gloucester before he went off after 57 minutes nursing a hand injury, being heavily involved in creating first-half tries for wing Henry Purdy and scrum-half Willi Heinz.
The Gloucester fly-half has been overlooked at Test level this season, but watching England boss Eddie Jones would struggle not to have been impressed by Cipriani’s classy display.
It proved in vain for his team, though, as despite Purdy claiming his second try and Billy Twelvetrees kicking a penalty and conversion, Worcester triumphed through touchdowns for fly-half Duncan Weir, hooker Niall Annett and lock Darren Barry.
? IT'S ALL OVER ??
A cracking second-half effort from @WorcsWarriors and 17 points from @duncan_weir was enough to secure the win ??
Safety guaranteed for Warriors ?
Congratulations also to @gloucesterrugby who make their first play-off in 8 years?
Man of the match? ? pic.twitter.com/2GY61H4qHG
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) April 28, 2019
Weir also booted two penalties and three conversions for a 17-point haul, while Gloucester’s losing bonus point put them into the play-offs for a first time since 2011.
Worcester wing Perry Humphreys returned after injury, replacing a suspended Bryce Heem, while Gloucester showed four changes following victory over Bath two weeks ago, including starts for ex-Warriors prop Val Rapava Ruskin and flanker Jake Polledri.
Weir kicked Worcester into a sixth-minute lead after Warriors’ Wales wing Josh Adams went close to breaching Gloucester’s defence, but the visitors hit back in impressive fashion. Cipriani’s clever kick into space put the Worcester defence on the back foot, then possession was moved quickly before Cipriani sent Purdy over for the touchdown.
"Full, full credit to Worcester, I didn't see this result coming!"
Fantastic scenes at Sixways ?@WorcsWarriors produced a great performance to secure their safety! pic.twitter.com/iqGrs5X08H
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) April 28, 2019
Worcester, though, rocked their opponents through a 10-point scoring burst in just three minutes, with Weir collecting the lot. A long-range penalty edged the Warriors back in front, then his defence-splitting pass sent Humphreys clear, and although he was hauled down just short of the line, he got a pass away to Weir.
The Scotland international finished off an impressive move, before he added the conversion and opened up a 13-5 lead inside the first 20 minutes. Gloucester enjoyed territorial supremacy for the remainder of an entertaining half, but it took them until the dying seconds to break down Worcester’s defence.
Cipriani was inevitably the catalyst, twice being involved in a move studded by precision passing, and centre Mark Atkinson’s final ball to Heinz sent the Gloucester skipper over.
Twelvetrees added the conversion, giving Gloucester a two-point interval advantage as they closed in on the play-offs.
After 8?? seasons, we are back in the playoffs! pic.twitter.com/epa2H3hl61
— Gloucester Rugby ? (@gloucesterrugby) April 28, 2019
But Worcester regained the lead 10 minutes after half-time after their forwards battered away at Gloucester’s line before Annett crashed over. Weir’s conversion made it 20-15, and Gloucester were fortunate to see lock Ed Slater avoid punishment following a shoulder-led challenge on Adams that left the Worcester player requiring treatment.
Worcester’s forwards relished the challenge in front of them, and they scored again six minutes later when Barry rounded off another spell of sustained pressure. Gloucester, without Cipriani, needed to rally in the final quarter, and they began it well through a second touchdown for Purdy after he collected fellow wing Charlie Sharples’ long floated pass.
But they could make no further in-roads as Worcester held out for a deserved victory that means they will be playing top-flight rugby again next season.
'When you’re injured it definitely emphasises the fact rugby can get taken away from you' – @GJvanVelze talks to @heagneyl about Worcester's relegation battle, his injuries and having a non-rugby balance in his life ?https://t.co/3LRhK0M0ho
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 11, 2019
Comments on RugbyPass
Should've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to comments