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Wasps come from behind to inflict an eighth successive loss on Worcester

By PA
(Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)

Worcester crumbled to an eighth consecutive defeat as Wasps overcame an 11-point deficit to win the Gallagher Premiership contest 32-17.

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After last weekend’s resumption, both sides made wholesale changes. with Wasps’ reserves proving just too strong at the Ricoh Arena courtesy of a second-half rally.

Their tries came from Tom Willis, Gabriel Oghre, Tom Cruse and Alfie Barbeary, with Rob Miller kicking two penalties and three conversions.

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Worcester responded with tries from Nick David and Beck Cutting. Duncan Weir converted both and added a penalty.

Wasps began strongly with number eight Willis stealing possession to burst away and gain a platform in the visitors 22. From there Worcester conceded three penalties in quick succession before Ben Vellacott dummied his way over – but the try was disallowed by the TMO for a Wasps’ infringement.

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Worcester took advantage of their let-off to take a 13th minute lead. Skipper Will Butler made a couple of dents in the home defence before David spotted a gap to score. Weir converted.

Miller put the hosts on the scoreboard with a penalty but Worcester scored their second try when Cutting finished off a driving line-out. Weir’s touchline conversion gave his side a 14-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.

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Worcester then lost Butler for a head injury assessment and they suffered a further setback when Willis forced his way over from close range. Miller converted before he and Weir exchanged simple penalties to leave Warriors with a 17-13 interval advantage.

After the restart, Miller and Weir were both off-target with long range penalty attempts before Jacob Umaga replaced Liam Sopoaga at outside-half as Wasps sought to reverse their fortunes.

Umaga began brightly with two skilful interventions threatening the visitors’ but the defence held firm and hence the third quarter finished scoreless.

The hosts also introduced powerful Tongan number eight Sione Vailanu and it paid immediate dividends as he was part of the pack which rumbled over the Worcester line for a try credited to Oghre, giving Wasps the lead for the first time in the match.

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The hosts were much improved with Umaga and Vailanu in the line-up and a lively performance from scrum-half Vellacott, ensured they did enough to keep their noses in front, before late tries from Barbeary and Cruse sealed their victory.

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J
JW 1 hour ago
Crusaders outlast fast starting Blues to reach another Super Rugby final

Yeah nar, but that’s kinda the thing, I don’t think the old approach was working either!


You might have it right though, leading up, in all rugby/competitions mean, to the last WC it did feel like there had been better discipline/less than the normal amount of cards. Well, at least a certain demographic of teams improved at least, but not so much NZ ones is my point.


I bet you also think going harsher would be the best way to go reducing head contact and the frequency of concussions?


I would hate to have your theory tested as it requires subjective thinking from the officials but..

AI Overview

In Super Rugby Pacific, a red card means the player is sent off for the rest of the match, but with a 20-minute red card, the team can replace the player after 20 minutes of playing with 14 men. If the foul play is deemed deliberate and with a high degree of danger, a full red card is issued, and the player cannot be replaced. A second yellow card also results in a 20-minute red card with a replacement allowed. 

is there to stop that from happening. The whole subjective thing is why we have 20min cards, and I worry that the same leniency that stopped them from red carding a player who ran 30 meters and still didn’t get his head low enough would stop them straight redn them too.


Back to the real topic though, right after that WC we saw those same angles getting red carded all over the show. So do some players actually have control over their actions enough to avoid head collisions (and didn’t gaf after the WC?), or was it pure luck or an imaginary period of good discipline?


So without a crystal ball to know the truth of it I think you’ll find it an immeasurably better product with 20m red cards, there just does not appear to be any appropriate amount of discipline added to the back end, the suspensions (likely controlled by WR), yet.

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