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
The game was already over leave the bloke alone ….from a Welsh fan 😀👍
2 Go to commentsShamefully the Toulouse players acted like footballers, falling down feigning injury at the slightest knock. About time refs penalised this play acting.
6 Go to commentsAnother non Scot for the anti Scot Townsend. Soon there will be no Scottish born and bred players in the National team.
1 Go to commentsGreat comeback to the playing field by Richie Mo’unga after the loss of his father. A great performance by Richie . I know him well and he is a great guy. On and off the field one of the greatest for the Crusaders. Scott Robertson would have loved him in his All Black’s side. A very missed player and person.
2 Go to commentsYeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
2 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
4 Go to commentsThe Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
4 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
4 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
13 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
13 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
13 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
6 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
6 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
6 Go to comments