Worcester Warriors 22 Scarlets 7 (From Worcester News)

Worcester Warriors 22 Scarlets 7

1:49pm Sunday 19th August 2012 in Sport

JOSH Matavesi enjoyed a dream full home debut as he grabbed a superb try double as Worcester Warriors trounced the Scarlets in an entertaining pre-season fixture at Sixways.

Centre Matavesi was signed by head coach Richard Hill in the summer from Racing Metro to bring a new attacking dimension to Warriors and the Fiji international wasted no time introducing his talents.

The young back sliced through the Scarlets defence to open the scoring after a perfectly timed pass from Jonny Arr and grabbed a second amid confusion in the visiting ranks.

Wing Ben Howard capped a fine performance performance by finishing off a length of the field move for a stunning third home score.

The Welsh region replied with a try from Nick Reynolds but the win was no more than Warriors deserved for another display full of attacking intent and rock-solid defence.

Worcester now turn their attention to Rotherham Titans on Tuesday as Hill looks for more momentum from his squad ahead of the new Aviva Premiership season in less than two weeks.

The game was delayed by 35 minutes following a motorway accident that delayed the Scarlets arrival at Sixways and it was Warriors who settled the better with Joe Carlisle narrowly wide from an early penalty from inside his own half.

The visiting lineout was soon being picked apart by Craig Gillies as Worcester starved the Scarlets of attacking platform.

Worcester started to turn the screw at the midpoint of the first-half and struck after a series of driving line-outs with big number eight Semisi Taulava prominent.

A sustained period of pressure finally paid dividends as a delightful disguised pass from Arr sent Matavesi crashing over as the centre picked a superb line to slice through. Carlisle added the extras for a 7-0 lead.

Some slick handling from Matt Mullan and John Andress sent Warriors into clear air to a big ovation before Howard just put a foot in touch as he looked to score in the corner after more neat hands from Carlisle.

Josh Drauniniu was yellow carded for not releasing after the tackle and Scarlets immediately looked to make the numerical advantage count but were folied by a resolute Worcester defence.

A huge hit from Aleki Lutui opened up space for Chris Jones to sprint away and make a break before recycling to Betty and Taulava. The resulting penalty for offside allowed Carlisle to kick Warriors into a 10-0 half-time lead.

Worcester's second try arrived when a high kick caused confusion and, as Scarlets spilled the ball under pressure it was scooped up by Matavesi who streaked away from three men to dive over.

Two soon became three as Errie Claassens handed off his man and broke away to feed Drauniniu on his shoulder. The wing was then alert enough to flip to Arr who put Howard in space to tear over to cap a fluid length of the field move.

Scarlets hit back within two minutes with a well worked score from Reynolds after a break down the left wing was kept alive and continued to push for openings as they refused to let their heads drop.

Worcester continued to try and play attacking brand rugby as the game entered the final stages but the final pass just eluded them.

Warriors: Mullan (Jones 60), Lutui (Hayes 40), Andress (O'Donnell 57), Percival (Schofield 57), Gillies, Jones (Dacres 60), Betty (Taylor 76), Taulava (Kvesic 57); Arr (Frost 57), J Carlisle (Stelling 76); Drauniniu, Matavesi (Goode 60), Clarke (Pennell 54), Howard, Claassens (Nellany 74).