Wasps leave it late to sting Worcester
Wasps deservedly won a seesaw encounter at Worcester with a strong second-half performance that saw them score 25 points to turn around a half-time deficit.
They were unlucky to be trailing 13-5 at the interval but tries from Zach Kibirige, Jack Willis and Dan Robson – to add to Jimmy Gopperth’s first-half effort – saw them to victory, with Billy Searle adding two conversions and two penalties.
Duncan Weir celebrated his recent call-up to the Scotland squad by scoring 16 points. He kicked four penalties and converted the tries scored by Marco Mama and Ollie Lawrence.
The first ten minutes saw a litany of unforced errors as both sides needlessly gave away possession with sloppy handling and poor ball retention.
Wasps did have the better of that opening period in terms of territory so it was against the run of play when Weir gave Warriors a 13th-minute lead with a 40-metre penalty.
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Wasps responded with the first sustained period of pressure of the match to score the opening try. Will Rowlands, Simon McIntyre and Matteo Minozzi all drove strongly into the heart of the Worcester defence before the ball was recycled and a long pass from Searle sent Gopperth over.
Searle was off target with the conversion attempt but his side still led 5-3 at the end of the first quarter.
At the half-hour mark, the hosts had not managed to put forward any worthwhile attack and certainly had not threatened to enter their opponents’ 22, but remarkably they managed to regain the lead when Weir kicked a second penalty from 25 metres out.
One of Eddie Jones' squad members is off the list for France on February 2https://t.co/1xgs2lAqiM
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The score galvanised the lethargic Warriors and, in the 39th minute, they reached the 22 when a neat offload from flanker Sam Lewis sent Ethan Waller away on a 20-metre burst. The prop was hauled down but Worcester maintained the pressure with a succession of attacking scrums before Mama crashed over with Weir’s conversion to give his side a 13-5 half-time lead.
After the restart, Searle reduced the deficit by kicking two penalties in quick succession before Worcester lost lock Anton Bresler to a head injury assessment, with GJ van Velze replacing him to make his 100th appearance for the club.
Weir kicked his third penalty but the momentum was with Wasps and they scored their second try when a perfectly judged kick from Gopperth saw Kibirige easily win the race to touch down. This brought the scores level at 16-16 going into the final quarter.
Managing director Mick Hogan isn’t blaming @Saracens for the trauma @FalconsRugby are enduring in the Championship… but he tells @heagneyl it still leaves a sour taste belatedly finding out a @premrugby rival cheated last seasonhttps://t.co/CfYiZmovYZ
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An attempted clearance from Searle was charged down and Wasps were penalised as they attempted to retrieve the situation and up stepped Weir to knock over the simple kick, but the lead was short-lived as Willis forced his way over from close range.
The game had certainly livened up following the first-half mediocrity, with Lawrence scoring an excellent solo try for Worcester by picking a pass up from his ankles before powering through the opposition defence.
However, Wasps had the decisive say when Kibirige kicked ahead and collected to send Robson in for the match-winner, and with it a bonus point.
– Press Association
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Comments on RugbyPass
NZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
22 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
22 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.
22 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.
22 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 🤐
22 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….
22 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 comments