Wasps leave it late to sting Worcester

Wasps deservedly won a seesaw encounter at Worcester with a strong second-half performance that saw them score 25 points to turn around a half-time deficit.

They were unlucky to be trailing 13-5 at the interval but tries from Zach Kibirige, Jack Willis and Dan Robson – to add to Jimmy Gopperth’s first-half effort – saw them to victory, with Billy Searle adding two conversions and two penalties.

Duncan Weir celebrated his recent call-up to the Scotland squad by scoring 16 points. He kicked four penalties and converted the tries scored by Marco Mama and Ollie Lawrence.

The first ten minutes saw a litany of unforced errors as both sides needlessly gave away possession with sloppy handling and poor ball retention.

Wasps did have the better of that opening period in terms of territory so it was against the run of play when Weir gave Warriors a 13th-minute lead with a 40-metre penalty.

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Wasps responded with the first sustained period of pressure of the match to score the opening try. Will Rowlands, Simon McIntyre and Matteo Minozzi all drove strongly into the heart of the Worcester defence before the ball was recycled and a long pass from Searle sent Gopperth over.

Searle was off target with the conversion attempt but his side still led 5-3 at the end of the first quarter.

At the half-hour mark, the hosts had not managed to put forward any worthwhile attack and certainly had not threatened to enter their opponents’ 22, but remarkably they managed to regain the lead when Weir kicked a second penalty from 25 metres out.

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The score galvanised the lethargic Warriors and, in the 39th minute, they reached the 22 when a neat offload from flanker Sam Lewis sent Ethan Waller away on a 20-metre burst. The prop was hauled down but Worcester maintained the pressure with a succession of attacking scrums before Mama crashed over with Weir’s conversion to give his side a 13-5 half-time lead.

After the restart, Searle reduced the deficit by kicking two penalties in quick succession before Worcester lost lock Anton Bresler to a head injury assessment, with GJ van Velze replacing him to make his 100th appearance for the club.

Weir kicked his third penalty but the momentum was with Wasps and they scored their second try when a perfectly judged kick from Gopperth saw Kibirige easily win the race to touch down. This brought the scores level at 16-16 going into the final quarter.

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An attempted clearance from Searle was charged down and Wasps were penalised as they attempted to retrieve the situation and up stepped Weir to knock over the simple kick, but the lead was short-lived as Willis forced his way over from close range.

The game had certainly livened up following the first-half mediocrity, with Lawrence scoring an excellent solo try for Worcester by picking a pass up from his ankles before powering through the opposition defence.

However, Wasps had the decisive say when Kibirige kicked ahead and collected to send Robson in for the match-winner, and with it a bonus point.

– Press Association 

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