Saturday, April 6, 2002

THEY do say that the best presents come in the smallest packages and Richard Smith once again showed his immense worth to Worcester with a towering display at Rugby.

The scrum half, plucked from Ebbw Vale in the summer, was head and shoulders above the rest -- in talent terms -- at Webb Ellis Road as the visitors came away with a 41-23 victory.

The diminutive figure has been a model of consistency all season and has won the battle of the number nines hands down despite the presence of Elton Moncrief and Ricky Pellow.

On the day where Worcester finally said farewell to any lingering hopes of promotion - with Rotherham's 72-7 win at Manchester - it was comforting for supporters to know Smith will again spearhead the Sixways charge next season.

"He has given 100 per cent every time he has played for us," said head coach John Brain after seeing another virtuoso display.

"Richard has been very good for us all year. He has been durable, played most of the league campaign -- he has been a terrific signing. He's a Premiership player. Richard deserves to be playing in the top flight and we'll try our best to get him there with Worcester."

The 28-year-old was at the hub of everything good about Worcester on Saturday and even when he moved to outside half, because of Craig Chalmers' second half injury, he simply did not miss a trick.

And it was Smith who provided the pivotal moment of the match as a sluggish Worcester fell 16-15 behind to the relegation-threatened side early in the second half. The former Welsh international finished off a flowing move involving Chalmers, Neil Lyman and Chris Yates to put Worcester back in front, a position they never looked back from after Chalmers' conversion made it 22-16.

Rugby had earlier stunned the visitors with a first minute Eddie Saunders try and continued to stay in touch through a penalty and Phil Reed's score. Ben Hinshelwood, Chris Hall and Chris Garrard bagged Worcester's tries to leave it 15-13 to the visitors at the break.

The Sixways side were indebted, however, to Alistair Murdoch's outstanding try-saving tackle at the end of the half which kept the Lions at bay.

In truth, the first half performance was a major disappointment from Worcester but Rugby should be given credit for doing their homework and disrupting the set piece at every attempt.

Once Smith's try had put Worcester back in front, though, the National One runners up never looked threatened. Murdoch capped a fine display when he finished off the move of the match on 57 minutes.

The Australian touched down after a magnificent run from Duncan Roke opened up the Lions and Garrard, Jim Jenner and, finally, Murdoch took full advantage. Chalmers slotted over a fabulous conversion to extend the lead to 29-16 but that was to be his final telling contribution before leaving the field with a worrying shoulder injury.

Cometh the hour, cometh the changes and Gary Trueman - on for the impressive Yates - got straight into the thick of things with some surging runs. Rather than the colts taking centre stage, however, it was the old guard who ushered Worcester past the finishing post. Neil Lyman and Dave Sims dived over for the final two tries before Hinshelwood again showed his versatility with an inch-perfect conversion.

Rugby had the final say with a converted try but it proved little consolation. And as news filtered through about Rotherham's promotion party, consolation seemed to be the key word for everyone involved.

Worcester: Roke 7, Murdoch 8, Hinshelwood 7, Yates 8, Garrard 7, Yapp 7, NSMITH 9; Windo 7, Hall 7, Lyman 8, Zaltzman 7, Morgan 6, Evans 6, Jones 6, Jenner 6.

Replacements: Nias 7 (Jones 23), Chalmers 6 (Yapp 40) (replaced by Pellow 61), Trueman 6 (Yates 54), Sims 8 (Morgan 66), Collins (Windo 71), Ross (Hall 80).

Man of the match: RICHARD SMITH - The brightest player on show.