Bath sink Worcester despite second-half rally from Warriors

Worcester’s miserable run of form continued as they were blown away in the first half by a rampant Bath on their way to suffering a 47-22 defeat at the Rec.

The Warriors trailed 40-0 at the break and have now lost their last 14 games on the pitch, with their only two victories since their opening-day win over London Irish being walkovers following coronavirus cancellations.

The heavy defeat was hardly unexpected as Worcester fielded an understrength side with nine changes in their starting line-up from last week’s committed but losing performance at London Irish.

Bath took full advantage to win their fifth game in their last six Premiership starts. Will Muir and Tom Dunn each scored two tries, with Zach Mercer, Ben Spencer and Max Clark also on the try-scoring sheet. Rhys Priestland added five conversions and Orlando Bailey one.

Joe Batley and Perry Humphreys scored two tries for Worcester with Ethan Waller and Joe Batley also crossing while Fin Smith added a conversion.

It took just 80 seconds for Bath to open the scoring. An early penalty took them into the opposition 22 from where Dunn burst away before a long pass from Priestland sent Muir over for his first Premiership try.

Priestland missed the touchline conversion, his first miss since November 21, and it brought to an end his Premiership record run of 36 consecutive successful kicks.

However the Welsh fly-half was soon back on target by converting a close-range try from Dunn as Worcester continued their miserable start.

Warriors’ woes were unrelenting as they soon conceded a third try. Fin Smith’s clearance was charged down by Ben Spencer and, from the resulting line-out, Mercer finished off the drive.

Bath picked up their bonus-point try after only 25 minutes when they moved the ball from inside their own half to give Muir the chance to finish in style for his second.

A fifth try soon followed when Ruaridh McConnochie brushed aside some weak tackling to power down the right flank before providing Spencer with the scoring pass.

Bath’s scoring spree took a temporary breather but they extended their lead to 40-0 when Clark took advantage of a favourable bounce to score.

Within two minutes of the restart, Worcester picked up their first try when Batley charged down Priestland’s kick to pick up and score, with the provider then departing the field having been injured in the collision.

Warriors appeared rejuvenated and soon scored a second when they produced their best move of the match, with Chris Ashton sending Humphreys over.

Back came Bath to score their seventh as Dunn forced his way over for his second, but Worcester were a totally different proposition in the second half and were rewarded with a second try from Humphreys and another from Waller to earn a losing bonus point.