Two tries from super-sub Ollie Lawrence help Worcester to victory
Ollie Lawrence came off the bench to score two tries as Worcester Warriors powered their way to a 40-25 victory against London Irish in what was a clash of two out-of-form teams at The Stoop.
The Warriors had only won once in the Gallagher Premiership since the turn of the year, but they were the dominant force at the Exiles’ temporary home, where they ran in six tries.
Two of those went to South Africa scrum-half Francois Hougaard, who was the class act in helping Worcester come back from a one-point half-time deficit and inflict upon Irish their ninth straight defeat.
It was the hosts who struck first after four minutes when a long pass from Theo Brophy-Clews found Ben Loader all alone down the left to open the scoring, with Paddy Jackson’s conversion striking an upright.
Worcester then had a long spell of possession deep in the Exiles’ 22 but were unable to find a finishing touch, as Ethan Waller knocked the ball on over the try line.
Another chance went begging for the Warriors when Melani Nanai threw a forward pass to Noah Heward from what looked a simple two-on-one opportunity.
The visitors finally made their territory count after 25 minutes, however, when Hougaard snuck his way over after several pick and goes had been repelled, with Duncan Weir’s conversion putting them 7-5 ahead.
Irish then had Isaac Curtis-Harris sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on Niall Annett, but the depleted hosts went into the break 8-7 in front thanks to Jackson’s penalty.
Worcester restored their lead two minutes after the restart, with Curtis-Harris still off the field, when Hougaard went over for his second try after being sent under the posts by Lawrence.
London Irish were soon reduced to 14 men again when Terrence Hepetema saw yellow for a needless shoulder charge on Waller and the Warriors punished this lapse in discipline straight away through a well-worked try from Nanai.
The visitors claimed the try bonus point after 58 minutes off a first-phase move from a scrum, which culminated in Ashley Beck putting Lawrence in the clear through the middle.
Having conceded 21 unanswered points, Irish finally hit back when Albert Tuisue was able to burrow his way over the line from inches out to give his side a slither of a chance with 18 minutes left.
But the Warriors put the result beyond doubt with their fifth try of the afternoon when more sharp play from Hougaard allowed Lawrence to saunter in for his second.
The Exiles were able pick up a try bonus point of their own as Ben Meehan’s sniping finish was followed up by Tom Homer being sent through a gap, but Worcester had the last word when Tom Howe grounded the ball off a driving maul.
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould'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.
30 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 comments