Saturday, January 25, 2003

IF the perception still remains that Worcester are a soft touch, it can only be for the uninitiated.

This victory on a ploughed field, which offered a vague resemblance to a rugby pitch, was founded on character and an undying belief in one another.

It was also another indication that the high risk, high reward playing ethos can bear fruit on the most barren of lands.

Exeter are not in the game of helping their opposition but the playing surface on Saturday was unacceptable for National One level. It was a true leveller, of course, but then once you eliminate the skills aren't you short-changing the players and, more importantly, the paying public?

If we were to believe the talk then the Chiefs rated themselves as genuine title contenders at the beginning of the season. Not on this evidence and a huge question mark has to be put alongside their ambition when they prepare pitches like this. They may have had rain in Devon but surely they've heard of rollers?

"It's a bog," said Worcester coach Andy Keast afterwards. "We've tried to play rugby here all day. We've tried to be positive and stuck to our guns but it was very difficult because of the pitch.

"Dan Zaltzman said to me that Worcester, a few years ago, would have folded under the pressure at the end. That speaks volumes for the progress we are making."

If the game ended on a resolute note, however, the beginning could not have been a sharper contrast. Ten points down after nine minutes and the writing seemed to be on the wall. The frustration from Worcester's perspective was that the scores were gift-wrapped rather than earned.

Exeter took full advantage of an over-thrown lineout from Chris Hall on six minutes as Richard Baxter took the ball on 10 metres and over the Worcester line. Tony Yapp added the conversion and, three minutes later, slotted a penalty after Chris Catling was penalised for holding on. Not the ideal start but, credit to the visitors, there was never a sense of panic. As Keast said, they stuck to their guns and continued to run the ball at every opportunity. And eventually they got their reward.

Duncan Roke -- filling Ben Hinshelwood's boots at 13 -- created the opportunity after nice work from Werner Swanepoel and Tim Walsh and fellow centre Gary Trueman followed up with the finish. Walsh added the conversion from a tough angle and the Warriors were back on track at the speedway ring.

The supporters must have wondered, though, as they continued to trail. Twice they passed up the opportunity for points midway through the half as they opted for touch and tries. Both times they came away from the Exeter half try-less and once Yapp had added another penalty following an offside, on the half-hour, their ambitious ethos was beginning to look like an expensive gamble.

If there is one sure bet, however, it is that Chris Garrard will score tries if offered time and space. Incisive work from Roke created that gap, on 37 minutes, and the Australian sprinted 30 metres to touch down and justify the game plan. It was a try which mirrored his effort at Millmoor and a timely reminder that Worcester -- in the wake of Hinshelwood's broken leg -- are far from a one-man team.

For all their effort, however, the Warriors were still adrift and, after Yapp's 45th minute three-pointer, they found themselves 16-12 down. For once, it was time for a touch of pragmatism and, following an Exeter infringement, Walsh went for the points to cut the gap.

Six minutes later and the value of that penalty was clear to see as Garrard danced his way to the line for the third try of the day. It was classical wing play and underlined just what a threat he can be when given the right service.

After that it was backs to the wall as ball retention went out of the window. Richard Baxter was held up on the line as the Chiefs piled forward and another two drives were repelled before the final whistle came.

Worcester will reflect on a missed opportunity late on as they wasted a good lineout position by throwing the ball back quickly into a congested midfield but, overall, there were more plusses than minuses on show at the County Ground.

Worcester a soft touch? Don't you believe it.

Worcester: Catling 7; Ezulike 6, Roke 7, Trueman 8, Garrard 8; Walsh 7, Swanepoel 8; Windo 8, Hall 7, Lyman 7, Zaltzman 8, Gillies 8, Quinnell 6, NPFISTER 9, Evans 8.

Replacements: O'Reilly, Chalmers, Wigram, Pearson, Olver, Morgan, Jenner 7 (Quinnell 54).

Man of the match: Gavin Pfister - Dogged defending in the Exeter mud.