Play-by-play: How 19 tense minutes of extra time sunk Bath to Worcester defeat

Worcester are deep in the Bath 22m. A smart half-dummy from Johnny Arr draws the defence offside. Referee Ian Tempest spots it. Worcester call for a 5m scrum, in front of the posts. Bath are already down to 14 due to Ross Batty’s sending off. Duncan Weir lines up the match-winning conversion, about ten metres to the left of the posts and 25 metres out. It’s good. Victory for Worcester! The Blue, Black and Whites are creaking. They hand Worcester the penalty. Bath are now down to 11. Jamie Roberts is now at flanker. Behind the scrum, Bath only have four players. Worcester go left. Mills finds Bryce Heem - who is wide open - with a long pass. Try! Another penalty as Worcester get a good nudge on again. Could it be a penalty try next ? Worcester attack off the scrum. Bath scramble, Aled Brew hits Ryan Mills hard, the ball is spilled. Did Brew use his arms? Tempest shows him yellow for offside and refers the tackle to the TMO. Not a penalty try; there was cover. Both front rows stand up. Scrum again, this time only a reset. The tension is building. Including resets, we make this the eighth scrum in added time. Maybe even nine. Bath’s best chance of getting out of this hole appears to be Worcester going wide and making a mistake. This time the scrum is completed. Worcester attack right and, a couple of phases later, Max Lahiff kills the ball and is shown a yellow card. James Wilson comes off and Henry Thomas returns to the field so the scrum can be contested. The next scrum is a mess and gets reset for yet another Warriors crack. Referee Tempest may have been tempted to give another penalty there. The tension in the Sixways stands continues to grow. As soon as he comes on, Thomas gets his head taped up which gives his team-mates a helpful breather. Bath pack down with just eight players again, but they are now two bodies short in the backs as the pressure continues to mount. We thought this was a rugby match, not a football match... The visitors are now packing down with just seven players, plus five backs. How on earth can they survive? Another penalty against Bath. The increasingly vociferous Midlands crowd calls for a penalty try, but the match officals decide otherwise as the growing scrumfest continues for another round on the Bath fivemetre line. Lucas Noguera goes to ground at the scrum and receives a yellow card. Jacques van Rooyen comes back on, Zach Mercer goes off.