Worcester Warriors 25 Bath 19

THREE second-half tries swept Worcester Warriors to a first victory over Bath in nine attempts and almost guaranteed their Aviva Premiership status.

Former Bath lock Will Spencer had one of the broadest smiles inside Sixways after crashing over for the try which sealed Warriors’ crucial triumph.

The powerful Spencer has been a stand-out performer since making his Worcester debut in December and an ever-present since Gary Gold arrived as director of rugby in January.

Worcester are now 12 points clear of basement boys Bristol, who must pick up at least two points at home to high-flying Wasps tomorrow to keep alive their hopes of avoiding the drop.

Warriors were guilty of a second-half slump at Bath in September when they let slip a 17-6 interval advantage and were eventually overpowered 37-22 at the Recreation Ground.

But Warriors are a different animal under Gold’s watch and they turned around 10-6 down and trailed 13-6 after 45 minutes before hitting back to dent Bath’s play-off hopes.

Wing Josh Adams, replacement centre Wynand Olivier and Spencer all crossed in a 25-minute spell which capped Worcester’s strongest second-half performance of the campaign.

Hard-working flanker Sam Lewis will have caught the eye of Wales’ stand-in head coach Rob Howley, who was in the crowd.

England’s Steve Borthwick was also in the stands with the duo primarily watching players in their British and Irish Lions roles ahead of Wednesday’s squad announcement for tour to New Zealand.

Warriors centre Ben Te’o has an outside chance of making the Lions squad and came to life after the interval.

Warriors started strongly and almost went over in the second minute when Perry Humphreys was denied in the corner.

Bath settled and George Ford’s penalty after 22 minutes put them 3-0 in front.

Warriors surged up the other end of the field only for Lewis to spill the ball five metres from the line.

Lewis won a penalty for the hosts soon afterwards and, with the wind at his back, fly-half Ryan Mills struck from distance to level the scores.

However, Warriors switched off in defence and were made to pay.

Matt Banahan collected a long pass from Jonathan Joseph and charged through a gaping hole to dot down. Ford’s conversion put Bath 10-3 ahead.

Warriors won a penalty 10 metres inside their own territory in the last play of the first half and Mills’ monster kick sailed between the posts.

Ford restored Bath’s cushion to seven points with his second penalty after Ryan Bower was singled out for collapsing a scrum before Warriors finally found their attacking edge.

Te’o broke through the centre for the first time, found the supporting Jackson Willison and his pass sent Adams streaking down the right for  Worcester’s first try.

Mills couldn’t add the touchline conversion and he scuffed a penalty as Warriors trailed 13-11 after 55 minutes.

Olivier replaced the injured Willison and made an immediate impact, scoring Warriors’ second try after Francois Hougaard and Mills had combined. Mills’ conversion put Warriors 18-13 in front.

Ford’s third penalty from another collapsed scrum cut the deficit to two points.

But Warriors struck a crucial blow when Spencer was driven over with five minutes remaining and Mills’ conversion gave them a 25-16 cushion.

Bath picked up a losing bonus point after Ford struck his fourth penalty of the afternoon.

Warriors comfortably saw out time to claim an impressive scalp and take a giant stride towards Premiership survival.