Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'We had to tell them a few home truths at the interval': Worcester handed half-time serve following 40-nil start

By PA
Will Muir (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Worcester head coach Jonathan Thomas was bitterly disappointed with his side’s first-half performance which saw them trail 40-0 before rallying to gain some respectability in a 47-22 defeat by Bath at the Rec.

ADVERTISEMENT

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, while 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 and Fin Smith adding a conversion.

Video Spacer

Former British and Irish Lion and World Cup winner Neil Back joins Christina, Dylan Hartley and Ryan Wilson this week to review all the Six Nations action and also take a trip down memory lane

Video Spacer

Former British and Irish Lion and World Cup winner Neil Back joins Christina, Dylan Hartley and Ryan Wilson this week to review all the Six Nations action and also take a trip down memory lane

“Our first-half performance wasn’t acceptable and I was really disappointed by it,” said Thomas.

“We picked the players for a reason but you can’t afford to feel yourselves into a Premiership match and we had to tell them a few home truths at the interval.

“We challenged the boys at half-time to try and secure a bonus point so I’m really proud of the boys that they were able to do that.”

Bath director of rugby Stuart Hooper was pleased with the expansive game that his side had produced in the first half.

ADVERTISEMENT

He said: “We trained hard in the week so we knew we had plenty in the tank and therefore we wanted to move the ball and create space.

“Will Muir scored two excellent tries early on as the ball went wide as we know we have some dangerous backs if we can get them some space.

“It was a different type of game to our win at Newcastle last week as then we produced a successful forward platform. That’s the blend of rugby I think you need to take to win games in the Premiership.”

Bath were disrupted by injuries to their backs which affected their second-half performance.

Hooper said: “Will (Muir) failed an HIA so he won’t be absent for long but Rhys (Priestland) and Tom (De Glanville) have leg injuries so we will need to have them assessed.

ADVERTISEMENT

“However I think we should have been able to deal with that better as we need to be able to ride out those bumps and remain in control.

“Over 80 minutes we still have a bit to do in respect of decision making so it will be an interesting review this week.”

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

B
Bull Shark 2 hours ago
Rassie Erasmus' Boks selection policy is becoming bizarre

To be fair, the only thing that drives engagement on this site is over the top critiques of Southern Hemisphere teams.


Or articles about people on podcasts criticizing southern hemisphere teams.


Articles regarding the Northern Hemisphere tend to be more positive than critical. I guess to also rile up kiwis and Saffers who seem to be the majority of followers in the comments section. There seems to be a whole department dedicated to Ireland’s world ranking news.


Despite being dialled into the Northern edition - I know sweet fokall about what’s going on in France.


And even less than fokall about what’s cutting in Japan - which has a fast growing, increasingly premium League competition emerging.


And let’s not talk about the pacific. Do they even play rugby Down there.


Oh and the Americas. I’ve read more articles about a young, stargazing Welshman’s foray into NFL than I have anything related to either the north and south continents of the Americas.


I will give credit that the women’s game is getting decent airtime. But for the rest and the above; it’s just pathetic coming from a World Rugby website.


Just consider the innovation emerging in Japan with the pedigree of coaches over there.


There’s so much good we could be reading.


Instead it’s unimaginative “critical for the sake of feigning controversial”. Which is lazy, because in order to pull that off all you need to be really good at is:


1. Being a doos;

2. Having an opinion.


No prior experience needed.


Which is not journalism. That’s like all or most of us in the comments section. People like Finn (who I believe is a RP contributor).


Anyway. Hopefully it will get better. The game is growing and the interest in the game is growing. Maybe it will attract more qualified journalists over time.

18 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Tommy Seymour: ‘I'm just glad I'm not playing now. There's an embarrassment of riches’ Tommy Seymour: ‘I'm just glad I'm not playing now. There's an embarrassment of riches’
Search