Bath locks are key to Warriors demise
BATH ended a sevengame winless streak courtesy of a dominant set-piece display against an ill-disciplined Worcester.
Bath’s pairing at lock of Elliott Stooke, who had been released from camp by England, and Dave Attwood helped propel the West Country side to a three-tries-to-one win.
In an error-ridden match, Freddie Burns added 15 points to tries from Semesa Rokoduguni, Tom Ellis and Stooke.
Defeat means Worcester are still yet to register a Premiership win at The Rec in 13 attempts.
Bath director of rugby Todd Blackadder said: “We were obviously under a bit of pressure leading into this game because it was such a massive game for us and we want to be a top four team. That pressure probably showed a bit early on.
“We were a bit rusty but as we went on we built into that performance and created good opportunities. We kept attacking even if we couldn’t take all our opportunities.
“It was a decisive step in the right direction from where we’ve been. It was a pretty good all round performance and good to get back to winning ways. I thought our set-piece and defence was outstanding.”
Worcester began at the same high-tempo that took them to a half-century of points against Bristol on their last Premiership outing. Duncan Weir’s orchestration at fly-half gave them a fizzing directness in the opening minutes and his penalty gave Warriors the lead, but ill-discipline knocked the visitors off their rhythm.
Burns drew the sides level with a penalty goal, and when Worcester gave away two penalties in quick succession Bath jacked up the pressure. The home side dominated ball and territory. Their supremacy finally yielded points when Rokoduguni came off his wing and muscled over.
A magnificent team try on 25 minutes brought Worcester level. From a rock-solid scrum just inside their own half, Weir attacked the ball at speed before a succession of deft off-loads and intelligent support lines put Ryan Mills over.
It was a moment of artistry that indicated how different this game might have been had the Warriors’ pack been able to provide a reliable platform.
Burns’ smart kicking out of hand was key in manoeuvring Bath around. His kicking from the tee was equally on the money, and two further penalties gave Bath a 16-10 half-time lead.
Worcester’s lineout, already wayward, began to misfire grimly and their cause was hindered by a penalty count that continued to tick upwards.
Francois Hougaard bundled Tom Ellis into touch with a dubious challenge, but Ellis’ revenge was immediate as he charged down Hougaard’s attempted clearance to score Bath’s second. Burns converted.
Worcester applied some pressure inside the Bath 22 but their lineout headaches meant they struggled to meaningfully test the Bath defence although Weir pulled three points back.
An already fragmented game became yet more disjointed, with handling errors costing both teams. Neither side seemed capable of stringing together a sustained passage of attacking play.
Attwood stole another lineout and Stooke struck a superb line to breach the Worcester defence and score Bath’s third to put the result beyond question.