Scotland to pay dear price for Duhan van der Merwe indiscretion

Agustin Creevy crossed for two tries as London Irish ran riot against an ill-disciplined Worcester Warriors in a 43-12 home win in the Gallagher Premiership.

The hosts scored seven tries in total, with Lucio Cinti, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Curtis Rona, Paddy Jackson and Ben White also crossing the whitewash.

Scotland winger Duhan Van Der Merwe was sent off in the second half for elbowing Kyle Rowe in the head to compound Warriors’ misery. The hulking winger will almost certainly now miss Scotland’s upcoming Guinness Six Nations game with Italy as a result.

Le French Rugby Podcast – Episode 19

Le French Rugby Podcast – Episode 19

Duhan van der Merwe's red card against London Irish

He could miss Scotland's #GuinnessSixNations match against Italy next week.#SaffasAbroad pic.twitter.com/njQWxUjbml

— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) March 5, 2022

The opening exchanges were a battle for territory with both sides trying to establish field position through a series of kicks and it was the hosts that got the first points, Creevy barrelling over from close range after a few minutes of pressure on the Warriors line.

The wind forced Jackson to drop-kick his conversion attempt and it sailed wide to set the early score at 5-0 to the hosts.

A sin-bin for Warriors prop Christian Judge gave Irish the opportunity to increase their lead, and they did just that as a creative behind-the-back pass from Nick Phipps five metres out was worked to Jackson who offloaded to Cinti to slide into the corner.

Right on the stroke of half-time, the home side were on the board again, Gonzalez taking the ball from the back of a maul and driving through the heart of the Warriors’ line to crash over, Jackson this time able to add the extras to push the lead to 17-0.

There was just enough time for Worcester to get their first points of the day after working their way down to the Irish line. It was the job of Noah Heward to finish the job after bursting through a gap in the Irish line to touch down from close range.

The conditions improved after the restart and it allowed for more free-flowing rugby, but it was more physicality that got the first points of the half.

Creevy again finished the move off from close range to grab Irish their bonus-point try, with Jackson’s conversion making the score 24-5 after the restart.

Van Der Merwe’s red card gave Irish the chance to increase their dominance and they did just that. First a ball out wide on Van Der Merwe’s exposed wing found James Stokes, who popped the ball inside for Rona to finish the job from 22 metres out.

Jackson then crossed the whitewash after picking up a loose ball in front of the Warriors line. Both of his conversions were good as the score was pushed to 38-5.

As the game wound down, there was still time for replacement scrum-half White to score from close range to make it 43-5 and Heward to grab a consolation in the corner for Worcester.