Saturday, December 16, 2000

WORCESTER'S players spent their spare time sleeping last week such was the intensity of training but London Welsh will just be glad that their Sixways nightmare is over for another season.

The National One leaders were in dreamland on Saturday as they rattled up seven tries in a 51-3 demolition of the Welsh to put their league campaign well and truly back on track.

Coach Adrian Skeggs put his team through some stamina-sapping sessions after Worcester's defeat at Moseley and they delivered a sparkling display of rugby to go with some of the hardest tackles you are likely to see.

Welsh, after recent punishing skirmishes with Worcester and Leeds Tykes at Old Deer Park, were missing a number of regulars and never looked capable of living with Skeggs' men.

The former Australian international had made three changes to the side which suffered their first league defeat of the season with Nick Broughton, Spencer Bromley and Ian Calder all recalled to the side.

And all three made vital contributions as Worcester settled quickly and confidently into their stride.

Sateki Tuipulotu began an impressive afternoon's work with a penalty on 10 minutes after the Worcester pack had driven the visitors back 30 metres.

However, after last week's debacle, the home side looked hungry for points and it was not long before they added to their tally.

Richard Jarman set up a characteristic Calder burst which led to the opening try on the right-hand side.

The former Hong Kong international's lightning run set up Tuipulotu and despite being tackled, Broughton was on hand to mop up and put Worcester 8-0 up.

Tuipulotu converted to give Worcester the perfect platform to build on.

Skipper Alistair Murdoch cemented those foundations on 15 minutes when his delightfully weighted chip put Bromley through for a chase to the line.

The former St Helens star kicked on and won the race to the line before Welsh's Matt Vines was penalised for deliberately knocking the ball away with Bromley about to touch down.

Referee Stuart Terheege was left with little option but to award a penalty try and Tuipulotu converted to make it 17-0 soon after.

The referee, liking the sound of his whistle for too many in the ground, then began to come into the game more and more with some curious decisions.

Instead of giving the advantage on 22 minutes when Rudi Keil was through for a certain try, he blew up for a Worcester penalty as both coaches threw their hands in the air in disbelief.

Tuipulotu duly converted as the Sixways side extended the lead to 20-0.

Calder then sprinted in for a converted try four minutes later to underline the value of Skeggs' decisions with all three recalled players making a big impact.

Richard Mahony gave the visitors some cheer with a penalty six minutes before the break but that was the highlight for the Welsh as Worcester continued to dominate.

Keil made it 32-3 after a fine Jarman pass on 37 minutes to wrap up the bonus point for the leaders with the fourth try and Tuipulotu made it an even better break with a first-half injury time touch down to leave the score 37-3 as the teams went in.

The second half, predictably, never hit the heights of the first but it came to life early on with Frenchman Florent Rossigneux and Virgil Hartland sin-binned as the referee once again got in on the act.

However, it was the same old story on the scoring front as Andrew Lamerton went over for a converted try in the 53rd minute.

With 10 minutes left, Rossigneux saw red as referee Terheege finally lost patience with the flanker and five minutes later, Worcester ended their pre-Christmas season on a high with the final converted try from substitute Richard Denhardt.

Worcester: Calder, Tuipulotu, Murdoch, Keil (Langkilde 70), Bromley (McLean 75), Va'a, Jarman (Simpson-Daniel 54), Windo (Collins 61), Lamerton (Hall 54) Hartland, Sims (Denhardt 62), Zaltzman, Evans (Carter 66), Broughton, Fryday.