Saturday, December 13, 2004

WE'VE had half a dozen spellings and numerous ages given but Uche Oduoza was the name on everybody's lips come Saturday night.

The 18-year-old scored a dazzling hat-trick on his Worcester debut as the Warriors eased into the quarter-finals of the European Shield with a 115-17 aggregate victory over Rovigo.

Eleven tries were scored on a day where catching the eye of the Worcester coaches was the outstanding motivation for many during a meaningless match. And Oduoza, who is still at school, went top of the class.

The teenager looked sharp in attack and answered the few questions Rovigo posed during this first round clash as he showed pace and power which belied his age. And for Worcester's director of rugby John Brain, Oduoza isn't necessarily a million miles away from a Premiership start.

"I don't think he's a long way away," said Brain.

"It wouldn't take an altogether strange set of circumstances for him to be playing a Premiership match. We wouldn't have a problem with that.

"The only problem we've had is that he's still at school and that limits the time that he can spend at the club. He didn't train with us this week before the match and that makes his performance all the better. We understand his situation and what he has to do is make a decision on what he wants to do after he finishes school."

Oduoza, who recently returned from playing a major role in England's Commonwealth Youth Games silver medal campaign in Australia, was on the end of two flowing moves in the first half before finishing off his treble with aplomb in the second.

"He scored a hat-trick and that's exceptional for a man who has just turned 18," added Brain.

"He's got a lot of potential. We've known that for some time and I think what we wanted to do was put him into a game where he was going to get some ball.

"He got that and we certainly saw what he could do. If you want to play wing, you need to be strong and quick. You also need to know where to position yourself and he's got all the ammunition to progress quite a long way in the game.

"Should he want a career as a full-time rugby player, I would advise him that he's got some potential in that direction."

Daren O'Leary began the rout after 11 minutes with a well worked try and, by half-time, Worcester were 31-6 to the good following two Oduoza efforts and scores from Dale Rasmussen and Chris Horsman.

Thinus Delport, who eased through the game looking a class above most on the field, bagged two second half tries while Thomas Lombard, O'Leary, Steve Sparks and Oduoza were also on the mark. Tommy Hayes popped over three conversions while there was also a welcome return for James Brown, after a neck problem, who matched Hayes' kicking record.

The highlight for the Italians came seven minutes before the end when Emanuel Pellegrini took advantage of some ponderous defending to touch down. Fly-half Ettore Boarato also kicked a drop goal and two penalties.

It was little more than a training exercise for most of the Sixways squad but in Oduoza, Worcester may have unearthed a little gem.

Worcester: Delport 7; O'Leary 6, Rasmussen 7, Lombard 6, LODUOZA 8; Hayes 6, Powell 6; Fortey 6, Van Niekerk 7, Horsman 7, Collier 7, Gillies 6, Vaili 6, Hickey 6, MacLeod-Henderson 6.

Replacements: Sparks 6 (Fortey 48), Hall, Murphy, Mason 6 (Vaili 57), Cole 6 (Powell 46), Brown 6 (Hayes 40), Trueman (Lombard 70).

Man of the match: UCHE ODUOZA - Hat-trick on debut.