Saturday, April 12, 2003

THE overriding emotion for Worcester will be frustration as they look back at another what if.

The Sixways stars cannot be criticised for lack of effort. They gave everything they had against Rotherham.

The feeling of exasperation, though, will linger when the squad looks back on the quality and courage to play which has imprinted their season so far.

Ultimately, in a pressure cooker atmosphere, it was the champions who dealt with heat better.

Worcester enjoyed around 80 per cent of possession in this winner-take-all confrontation but Rotherham ruthlessly punished second half errors to steal two tries and come away with victory.

Seven minutes into that half, Chris Garrard's missed tackle on Jason Keyter proved costly as the American stole away before putting in Mike Umaga on the right. Two minutes later, Mark Gabey coughed up ball in contact and the visitors moved it wide at pace for Rob Thirlby to run 70 metres for a classic counter attack try.

And that was that. Worcester's Premiership dreams were ultimately put to the sword in the space of two minutes as the problems came home to roost for coaches John Brain and Andy Keast.

The root of the defeat could be found back in January. Ben Hinshelwood's contribution before his broken leg was simply outstanding and if the Scottish international had been on show on Saturday, Worcester may just have punched a few more holes in an extraordinary Rotherham defence.

They tackled everything all day despite the Warriors' overwhelming amount of possession.

Worcester will ponder a number of what ifs in the days to come. What if Tim Walsh hadn't been knocked out in the second minute attempting a tackle on Umaga? What if the injured Nnamdi Ezulike had been on the end of two clear-cut chances instead of James Ogilvie-Bull? And what if Worcester had gone for the throat in the first half instead of kicking away so much possession?

The game threw up more questions than answers for the perennial runners-up of National One and that, more than anything, will be the frustration.

Also, give the players the game again and would they change some of their tactical decisions? Going for goal from 50 metres in the first half instead of opting for touch and then ignoring the posts deep into the second half before failing to put the ball out of play. Mistakes at key moments too often let Worcester down and they paid the heaviest of prices.

Down 9-3 at half time due to three Ramiro Pez penalties, all for offences around the ruck, they were still in the game thanks to Walsh's own three-pointer.

Momentum

With David Officer and Gary Trueman regularly breaking the gain line, Worcester looked at their best with ball in hand. Too often the runners found themselves isolated, though, and momentum that had been built suddenly disintegrated.

All the more frustrating for the 5,700 record National One Sixways crowd when you consider Ogilvie-Bull's golden opportunity at a pivotal stage of the match.

After 22 minutes Walsh flipped the ball out to the centre, filling in on the left wing after Ezulike's knee injury. With Keyter deliberately obstructing play in an offside position, the ball had to be looped and Ogilvie-Bull just didn't have the acceleration to run on and put the free Garrard in for the try.

It was a glorious opportunity and, by the end of the match, it was that clinical ability which explained just why Rotherham are now certainties to be in the Premiership next season.

It also illustrated how damaging the loss of Chris Catling had been for Worcester as the comparative squad strengths were put to the test. Rotherham lost Michael Wood and brought in Keyter. Worcester, with Catling back at Gloucester, didn't have that option.

Close calls for Garrard and the lively Craig Quinnell was the best of the rest in the second half for Worcester but, by then, the game as a contest was over.

James Brown's 66th minute penalty gave the home supporters some hope but, in the end, the basics just weren't good enough to build up phases of play. Duncan Roke, in particular, had an off day but handling errors were spread about the team as nerves took hold.

Worcester didn't lose this game through lack of effort but the quality which has been so apparent in this campaign let them down when it mattered most.

With the promotion drawbridge now poised to be raised next season, the questions afterwards concerned the future. Will Cecil Duckworth continue to finance the dream? Would there be a mass exodus of playing and coaching staff?

But one thing should not be forgotten amid the fog. The players and coaches have nothing to reproach themselves for this season. In years gone by, you could point the finger at individuals for their wavering commitment. Not this time.

Sixways was a glorious, colourful, passionate arena to be in on Saturday and if rugby could take its head out of the sand for five minutes then the word expansion could be given some credence.

Worcester are simply victims of a flawed system which denies ambition and justifies self interest at every opportunity. That should not be forgotten in the wake of one Rotherham victory. They were better on the day but, if there was any justice in this rugby world, there would be many more of these truly special days.

Worcester: Roke 5, Ezulike 5, Officer 7, Trueman 6, Garrard 6; Walsh 7, Swanepoel 7; Windo 6, Hall 7, Lyman 6, Zaltzman 6, N GILLIES 8, Gabey 6, Pfister 6, Evans 6. Replacements: O'Reilly, Brown 6 (Walsh 42), Ogilvie-Bull 6 (Ezulike 19), Pearl, Olver 6 (Lyman 57), N Mason 6 (Pfister 65), Quinnell 7 (Zaltzman 57).

Man of the match: CRAIG GILLIES - Giant in the lineout.