The Warriors V Rotherham 23 Nov 2002

The clubs first visit to Millmoor would be as league leaders, would it end that way/ The Warriors approached the game with a fair degree of confidence, optimistic in the knowledge that Rotherham had only just sneaked past Plymouth and Birmingham, to whom they dropped a point.

Millmoor is a great setting for a game of rugby, good uninterrupted views close to the action, certainly add to the atmosphere. Both sets of supporters were high on excitement as to what was in store for us all. Would it live up to the potential of the two best teams in the league pitting their skills against each other, or would it be a dour affair where both side defended against all odds.

Kick-off even though delayed by 10 minutes arrived amidst cheering from both sets of supporters, the noise was deafening. From the start it was clear Rotherham had come to win! They were immediately on the attack and it was only stout defence and a piece of magical anticipation from Duncan Roke, on two occasions,  that saved Worcester going behind in the first two minutes.

The next ten minutes saw the strength of the Rotherham pack attack and maul it's way up field on numerous occasions. For an feint hearted Worcester supporters this was a very nervous 5 minutes. This forward power was already opening up the weaknesses in the Worcester Pack.

However Worcester fought their way back into the game, containing the forward drives, finally getting some possession. Once in possession they showed what they are capable of. Gary Trueman was punching holes through the Rotherham defence at will, again and again making break after break, credit must be paid to the Rotherham defence as no matter how many times he burst through another player would be covering across, stopping two certain tries. With both David Officer (injured) and Ben Hinshelwood (International duties), left us with young Hugo Southwell, a good fullback but not a center, who was unable to read the lines to be in the right place to take the ball on.

We now started to see the style of play we were becoming use to, phase after phase of fast ruck ball being fed to Tim Walsh who unerringly took the right option every time. Tim was having a fine game linking back inside to his backrow, then outside to free running back division or putting sweet little chips and grubbers constantly turning the defence and providing space for his team.

There were three or four passages of sublime interplay which the Rotherham defence were lucky not to concede tries. Worcester were running the show forcing Rotherham onto the back foot whether defending or attacking. There was still the very real threat of the Rotherham forward power just waiting to burst though. On every occasion where they had good possession they drove the Worcester pack backwards..

There were only 7 scrums in the first half  but clearly the Warriors pack was struggling in the front 5.

During this period of domination Worcester forced two penalties from the Rotherham defence both being duly converted by Tim Walsh. Both penalties were cancelled out by two from Benson taking the score to   6 - 6

5 minutes before halftime Worcester finally broke through with Chris Garrard smashing his way through the first line of defence, then ghosting and accelerating to his right to score under the posts, converted once again by Tim Walsh.

From this point to the end of the first half it was all Worcester it seemed only a matter of time before they scored again, by the end of the game oh how they wished they had.

The Worcester fans must have thought this was finally going to be the day they beat Rotherham away. The photographers certainly did they all decamped to the opposite end of the stadium fully expecting the Warriors to run in some tries in the second half.

Rotherham are not the reigning champions for nothing!!

They had clearly identified the Warriors Achilles Heel, the defence of the driving or rolling maul. However this was not their first attacking sequence, once again from the kick off they attacked through their backs and once again two fabulous tackles stopped tries one from Chris Garrard the other from Nnamdi Ezulike.

After 5 minutes of play something seemed to just evaporate from the Warriors game plan and discipline, they seemed to lose direction and worst of all leadership. Occasion after occasion they gave the ball away through silly unforced penalties, gifting Rotherham territory and more importantly possession.

The Rotherham forwards really started to exert total control over the game leaving Worcester scratching around, with no real answer or evidence of a game plan to counteract this play. Worcester were being made to look second rate with total destruction of their front five in loose play and in the tight.

However they tried separately to stem the flow, trying to get some possession for their far superior backs now being starved of the ball. It was not going to be long before the dam broke, but would it be a trickle or a flood. Finally a penalty was conceded and Rotherham crept closer to the Worcester Score. Rotherham 9 - 12 Worcester

Once again Rotherham attacked through their magnificent forward power and once again Worcester had no answer. the ball was spun wide and a cut through saw a glorious try converted by Benson. Shortly followed by a penalty after once again an infringement at the maul.

at 19 Points to 12 with only 15 minutes left on the clock Worcester would have been relieved to end the day, restricting Rotherham to 4 points and gaining a bonus. Why were the shutters not pulled down, the sheer belief we could attack and force Rotherham back as we had done all season was the game plan, it may have worked we will never know.

Catastrophe struck "TWICE" Mark Gabey was sin binned for going over and offside at the ruck, for me the ball was out and Raulini actually had it in his hands when Mark grabbed him forcing the ball out of his grasp,  we were going to be without him for 10 minutes.

2 minutes later a fine attacking move for Rotherham saw Chris Garrard running across to cover, a step back inside wrong footed him and a purely instinctive reaction, he reached out and caught the attacking player around the neck. It looked a bad tackle but the Rotherham player bounced straight back up, now all the players charged in taking out their frustrations on each other. Chris Received a red card!!

Now down to 13 men against a stronger dominating pack was only going to go in one direction.

Worcester were already struggling with 8 men, they tried to leave one out to support the threequarters but it was just not possible and once the extra man was committed the ball was released with four on two there was only ever going to be one outcome.

the ball was driven into the Worcester 22 and Worcester were forced to kick away in defence, giving Rotherham the lineout. They knew as did everybody around the ground once they secured the lineout it would be driven with ease over the Worcester Line.

These 10 minutes realises 21 points for Rotherham two driven over from sheer forward power and anther from the threequarters where first up tackles may have stopped it but once out wide it was unstoppable.

Rotherham raced into a 38 - 13 lead with the fourth and bonus tried secured!!

the return of Mark Gabey saw Worcester gain some possession and immediately broke through on two occasion only a forward pass denying the team a try. At the end Worcester were on the attack again but another score was not to be.

A magnificent second half display of controlled aggression and power form the Rotherham forwards turned the game around completely

Observations:

1.   First half after a few scary moments we looked very confident and in control. We were able to attack at will, with Werner and especially Tim running the show. Tim is a class act way and above anything else on display, with Ben and David outside him will destroy weaker opposition. No matter what it takes he must be persuaded to stay. Even without Ben and David we were superior in the threes by some distance.

2.   The first half tackling was a key factor in our domination of the half, we put the players on the floor time and again before they reached the gain line forcing errors giving us possession.

3.   Attacking off the ruck 2nd 3rd and 4th phases we missed Christian Evans and Richard Bates and at times Werner was left wide open for players coming through.

4.   We had a good game plan with more subtle use of the boot and running and we stuck to the task, as soon as we lost the ball we attacked their ball carrier making it very difficult for them to retain possession and set up their mauls.

5.  Second half, was it complacency, was it because Rotherham were too good, no!! I believe it all stemmed around discipline and moving away from the game plan.

6.   Some decision when counter attacking were not well thought out, Duncan taking the wrong options at the wrong time again gifting them the ball in very dangerous field positions.

7.   We come back to the defence of the maul!!! On every match report there has been clear indications that we were just not good enough at this part of our game. The way we play, we do not often use this tactic but we have to be aware other teams will try to force us down this path because we cannot defend it and it takes us away from OUR game plan, giving them the edge.

8.   I firmly believe we have the right plan, it is exciting and will win the majority of our games, it is very difficult to defend against as was seen against Rotherham in the first half. But it depends on us having possession and being disciplined.

9.   The sad fact is that our front 5 were not up to the task and looked  weak. The question is can they improve, only the coaching staff have the answers to this one

10.  It is not the end of the season by a long, long way. we have to continue to play attacking rugby running up the big scores and improving our play. Clearly if we can retain the ball and apply the pressure there are enough gaps in the Rotherham defence to turn this result on it's head, but we must learn from our mistakes.

11.   It is now up to the JB and AK to lift the team and bounce straight back against Rugby and then take the full 5 points against Birmingham.

12.   The two best players on the field both belonged to Worcester, Tim Walsh and Gary Trueman had "truely" magnificent games. Tim when in possession controlled the whole game, if we are to win this league he is the man we need and we have to win him plenty of ball.  Gary was devastating ripping holes in the defencive wall all day, no other players has done that to Rotherham in two years!!!

Are We Capable of Coming Back - Yes We Are!

Are We Going To Come Back - Yes We Are!

Are We Going To Win The League - YES We Are!!