Saturday, August 20, 2005

WORCESTER Warriors proved they will be no pushover in the Guinness Premiership this season with a powerful performance that saw them overcome Llanelli Scarlets.

Warriors' pack looked to be in peak condition as they dominated the early stages of the match and built the foundations for an impressive victory.

Director of rugby John Brain was delighted with the showing and believes it can pave the way for his team to become the best set-piece side in the country.

He said: "Last year we had a reputation as a pretty good set-piece team and there's nothing that I saw on Saturday which is really going to detract from that.

"What we've got to do is make sure that we go from having one of the set pieces in the Premiership to having the best over the next season or two. That's the goal for us really."

Warriors started the match with wing Mark Tucker as the only summer signing in the line-up, while Tevita Tuamoepeau, Ed O'Donoghue, Chris Fortey and Nicolas La Roux all made their debuts from the bench.

But it was the centre pairing of Thomas Lombard and Dale Rasmussen who shone brightest in the first-half and the duo combined excellently with skipper Pat Sanderson to initiate the first significant break. Llanelli were penalised for going over the top and James Brown kicked the first points of the game.

An infringement straight from the re-start saw Worcester pegged back at 3-3 via the boot of Gareth Bowen and the two sides had another penalty apiece to leave the scores level after 15 minutes.

But the tone of the match changed following an ugly scuffle between both sets of forwards. With several players wading in, Worcester flanker Siaosi Vaili was identified as the main culprit and referee Phil Fear sent the player to the sin bin.

A penalty and drop goal from Brown put Worcester back in front heading for the break.

The visitors showed they could be more expansive in the second-half and were rewarded with a pair of tries.

The first came when Vaili powered through and his off-load went to ground before Ben Hinshelwood followed up with foot and then hand to claim the score.

Lombard then capped an explosive display by sprinting clear of the Scarlets defence to effectively win the game.

The Welsh side fought back, though, and late tries from Regan King and Dafydd James reduced Worcester's margin of victory.

Brain added: "We've given our players a very, very good work-out against good opposition and it has given us a pretty good indicator as to how our pre-season has gone and I think, at this point in time, there are more positives than negatives."

Worcester: Delport (La Roux), Hinshelwood, Rasmussen, Lombard, Tucker, Brown, Powell (Runciman), Windo (Sparks), Van Niekerk (Fortey), Horsman (Tuamoepeau), Collier (Murphy), Gillies (O'Donoghue), Vaili, Sanderson, Hickey.