Blackadder’s message gets over loud and clear
BATH supremo Todd Blackdadder hailed his side’s resilience after a stunning second-half revival.
Trailing 17-6 at the interval, Bath produced 24 unanswered points in 16 breathless minutes to turn the game on its head and leave the shell-shocked visitors winless.
Blackadder said: “We were too passive in the first half, but there was no ranting or raving, we started carrying hard, got quick ball and we know we can create chances when we’re on the front foot.”
Anthony Watson collected a George Ford bomb to fire Bath’s first attack but the opening try eluded them when Matt Banahan failed to locate returning hero Leroy Houston after smart interplay between Dan Bowden and Ross Batty.
Ford fluffed a straightforward penalty, but Bath threatened again and Jonny Arr did well to ground the ball in goal as Tom Homer bore down on a Ford grubber.
Warriors producedg a scintillating passage of play in which Jackson Willison, Wynand Olivier, Perry Humphreys and Tom Heathcote created space for Phil Dowson to hammer towards the line.
He was denied, as was Val Rapava Ruskin moments later, but there was no stopping rampant Worcester as Olivier powered impressively onto Heathcote’s inside pass before the ball was worked wide for Humphreys to put Niall Annett in.
With Olivier and the dangerous Willison combining superbly in midfield, Worcester again had Bath at full stretch, but Dowson was pinged for holding on.
Ford posted Bath’s first points after Warriors infringed at scrum-time, but the home side’s joy was brief as Worcester produced a splendid second try, Heathcote, Olivier and Jamie Shillcock combining to send Dean Hammond roaring over.
Heathcote and Ford exchanged penalties as Worcester led by 11 points at the break.
Warriors began the second half brightly but Heathcote butchered a penalty, and Bath made them pay when Ford’s inside pass sent Houston racing clear before he put Anthony Watson in.
Ford’s conversion reduced the deficit to four points and Bath almost went ahead when Rokoduguni collected Dan Bowden’s chip, only for Shillcock’s last-ditch intervention to force the ball loose inches from the line.
Worcester’s relief was short-lived, though, as Bath won a scrum penalty which Ford kicked to the corner. From the lineout the ball was worked left to Ford, whose chip found Matt Banahan for the score.
Ford added the extras, then knocked over his third penalty, before under pressure Warriors were rocked again when Rokoduguni piled over from close-range on 62 minutes, Ford converting to give his side a 30-17 lead.
Worcester heads might have dropped but the visitors hit back when Humphreys finished smartly from a Josh Adams pass.
Following concerted pressure, though, Banahan shipped Ford’s pass to Houston who finished to huge acclaim.