Saturday, May 6, 2006

AS entertaining rugby goes this was about as good as it gets!

It was a fast and furious game, full of enterprising and exciting play, bizarre mistakes and some farcical refereeing.

Unfortunately for Warriors, the occasion was somewhat spoiled, firstly by an injury to Simon Whatling, which saw him stretchered off after a five-minute delay. The extent of the problem for the young centre was not clear, but it was a sad way for him to end the day at his former club.

And, for all their daring and creativity, Worcester still ended up on the losing side. They do at least have a case for a moral victory after they were denied a last-minute penalty try which would have won them the game.

Jonny Hylton looked certain to get on the end of Drew Hickey's deft kick when he was cynically pulled back by Bath lock Peter Short.

Then, in the very last move of the game, Worcester's Phil Murphy went over the line but wasn't able to get the ball through a pile of bodies.

It was a day when Thomas Lombard and Mike MacDonald showed Worcester fans what they will be missing next season.

Lombard, the popular French centre, said au revoir in perfect style with a pair of tries and a cultured display.

If the supporters know plenty about Lombard, they have seen much less of MacDonald, the experienced and versatile American prop.

And on this performance it is hard to understand why he has been used so sparingly. MacDonald is surprisingly mobile for a man of more than 20 stones and once he gets going, he takes an awful lot of stopping.

But, thankfully for everybody at Sixways, one man who will be around next season is open-side Tom Harding.

Since arriving in the autumn, the New Zealander has taken a while to adapt to the attritional style of rugby in this country.

But with the ball moving quickly in Saturday's game, Harding was in his element. His energy got him to the breakdown first and, with the ball in hand, he was always a menace to the opposition.

The flanker set up Lombard's second try with a break from inside his own '22' and then a perfectly timed pass to the former French international.

Harding then he got one of his own after running on to a pass from Pat Sanderson. He even delighted the home fans when he knocked referee David Rose off his feet as he made a break.

"I think the game probably suited Tom," said head coach Anthony Eddy. "He's a sensational player and I thought he was absolutely outstanding. He was one of the best players on the field.

"Being a New Zealander, he likes an open game and a fast game. This match suited him tremendously well and hopefully we can play a little more of that type of rugby as we progress."

The visitors were in front after just three minutes when Lombard went over in the corner after Delport jinked his way past the Bath defence before off-loading.

Bath flanker Zak Feaunati piled over for tries either side of half-time but, in between, Dale Rasmussen scored for the visitors from probably the best move of the match.

Uche Oduoza did well to keep it going when he received the ball inches from the touchline. He came back inside to Delport, who fed Rasmussen.

With James Brown struggling with his kicks at goal, Worcester failed to build a sizeable lead and they were made to pay when Joe Maddock scored under the posts.

Worcester's two late tries put them back in front, but the hosts sealed victory when Michael Stephenson sped over in the corner.

Warriors: Delport; Oduoza, Rasmussen, Lombard (Whatling) (Hallam), Trueman (Hylton); Brown, Runciman; MacDonald, C Fortey (Van Niekerk), L Fortey (Black), Murphy, Gillies (O'Donoghue), Sanderson, Harding, Horstmann (Hickey).

Warriors man-of-the-match: Tom Harding.

Attendance: 10,600.