Saturday, January 12, 2002

BEN Clarke once again showed his voracious appetite for success with a storming performance in Worcester's 30-13 victory at Birmingham & Solihull.

The former England international, who arrived in the summer with a brief to bring Premiership rugby to Sixways, crashed over for two tries as Worcester came from behind to stay in touch in the promotion race.

Worcester trailed 8-3 at half time following a tepid display characterised by possession without any cutting edge.

However, after a second half transformation, Clarke claimed a brace and Chris Yates one try as the Gold'n'Blues turned around a potentially disastrous situation.

A Sateki Tuipulotu penalty was all Worcester had to show for themselves at the break after a performance which went some way to justify John Brain's decision to bring in new backs coach Andy Keast midway through the season.

So many times, his side have dominated territorially but come off second best and once again on Saturday, Worcester gave a classic example of unfulfilled potential.

The prime example came midway through the first half when, after an initial break by Alistair Murdoch, the Australian had the choice of either a dash to the line or a simple pass to Chris Garrard.

In the end, he did neither and inexplicably lofted the ball out of play to gasps from the sidelines. It was a glorious chance but, once again, one which had gone begging.

Birmingham, to their credit, battled all the way and with leading league try scorer Nick Baxter, always posed a threat on the left. After a Matt Gallagher penalty had equalised Tuipulotu's effort, Baxter then set up the Bees' try late in the first half as they moved the ball left to right in a flowing move. Following Nathan Carter's missed tackle, the ball was passed to Andy Smallwood who made it 8-3.

It was a timely reminder for Worcester that for all their possession, the game is still about putting points on the board.

That they did just four minutes into the second period when Tuipulotu brought the score back to 8-6 with a penalty. It was then Ben Hinshelwood's turn to irritate Garrard when, once again, the Australian awaited a simple pass to run in a try only to see the ball fly out of play in a depressingly familiar moment.

It was, however, only a matter of time before Worcester went over and it was Clarke who was on the mark, in the 45th minute, after fine work from the ever willing Chris Yates. Yates produced a much more streetwise second half display and had Birmingham on the back foot every time he took the ball on.

Clarke's try was also the result of his sheer hunger to get on the end of the pass and take the game by the scruff of the neck. Tuipulotu's conversion made it 13-8 and Worcester looked likely to go on and win that precious bonus point. Two minutes later, though, and Birmingham were back in it at 13-13 after Knight's clever crossfield kick put in Smallwood for his second try.

With 20 minutes left, Worcester turned their possession into points following quick thinking from Richard Smith and a Murdoch burst. Yates this time was the beneficiary, crashing through for a vital, converted, score.

Murdoch and Craig Chalmers then had chances before a Tuipulotu penalty, five minutes from time, ended Birmingham's hopes of a result.

Clarke's converted try, at the death, once again illustrated his worth to the team and rounded off a fine second half recovery.

"For me, that was the best game he has had for Worcester," said Brain afterwards. "His all-round work rate was excellent and he topped that with two tries. He worked his socks off and it was very, very good to see."

Worcester: Tuipulotu 8, Garrard 7, Hinshelwood 6, Yates 8, Murdoch 6, Chalmers 7, Smith 7; Davis 7, Ross 8, Moreno 7, Morgan 7, Soper 6, Carter 7, Jones 7, LCLARKE 9.

Replacements: Pellow, Vile, Zaltzman 7 (Soper 25), Evans, Smith, Collins 7 (Davis 54), Jenner 7 (Carter 54).

Man of the match: Ben Clarke. Two tries and a tireless display.