Bath bag record win over Warriors at Sixways
Two Rhys Priestland penalties gave Todd Blackadder’s side the lead before Chris Pennell got Worcester on the board, with Bath back-row Paul Grant crossing before half-time.
After the break the game exploded into life with Bath tries for Matt Garvey, Anthony Watson, James Phillips and a double for Kahn Fotuali’i
The Warriors got tries back through David Denton, Joe Taufete’e and Perry Humphreys, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Bath from running up a record score against Worcester at Sixways.
Priestland’s early penalties had rewarded Bath’s early dominance, before Worcester came back into things, producing two kicking opportunities which No.15 Chris Pennell was unable to convert.
The full-back found his range on 28 minutes but the visitors fired back, with Ben Tapuai making a midfield break and Chris Cook delivering a delightful back-handed offload to Grant for the score.
The West Country outfit led 13-6 at the break and scored a wonderful try immediately afterwards, with Watson leading a charge down the left before Garvey found space to trundle over the line.
The Warriors created a spell of pressure but were dealt a cruel blow on 53 minutes, conceding a turnover at the Bath line before the visitors went the length of the pitch, leaving Watson with an easy run-in.
Worcester responded with Denton’s score from close range, but Bath soon had the bonus point with James Phillips incredibly powering through four defenders to touch down under the posts.
The result was made all but certain on 67 minutes when Fotuali’i charged down a kick to score Bath’s fifth of the night – substitutes Taufete’e and Humphreys crossed for the Warriors late on but were too late to affect the result.
The scorers:
For Worcester:
Tries: Denton, Taufete’e, Humphreys
Cons: Pennell 2
Pens: Pennell 2
For Bath:
Tries: Grant, Garvey, Watson, Phillips, Fotuali’i 2
Cons: Priestland 3, Burns 2
Pens: Priestland 2
Yellow Card: James Phillips (Bath, 70)
Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Sam Olver, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 David Denton, 5 Will Spencer, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (captain), 3 Gareth Milasinovich, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Darren Barry, 20 Alafoti Faosiliva, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Perry Humphreys
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jack Wilson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Paul Grant, 6 Matt Garvey (captain), 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 James Phillips, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 James Wilson
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe and Paul Dix
TMO: Trevor Fisher.
@PremRugby
