Saturday, March 15, 2003

BILLY McGinty summed it up some weeks ago when pondering the art of defending.

"You can teach them how to defend but if they don't want to put their bodies on the line, it's a waste of time."

Worcester Rugby Club's defensive coach was bristling with pride back then after resilient displays at Bedford and Exeter. Saturday's effort, though, will have had him reaching for the prozac.

Ten minutes of mayhem at the end of the first half, in this encounter with Plymouth, transformed a 24-0 lead into a 26-24 half time deficit. It was truly unbelievable, the kind of play which will be giving McGinty nightmares for weeks to come.

It had looked like business as usual after 31 minutes. Tries from Duncan Roke, Tim Walsh, Nnamdi Ezulike and Gary Trueman had sown the game up. Bonus point in the bag, the team, with six players returning from injury, could get back to building confidence and continuity on a pitch as flat as a pancake.

Plymouth, though, had other ideas. Nigel Simpson outsprinted Worcester's defence twice while Dan Ward-Smith and Andy Matchett's tries ensured the promotion chasing team were in for some harsh words during the break from Rottweiler-in-chief Andy Keast.

And if the squad are honest with themselves, they will have few qualms about those words because it was pretty poor stuff. If Worcester defend like that against Rotherham on April 12, we will be talking of a cricket score because the hunger to tackle, the pride of keeping the opposition out had drained away by 3.40pm.

This was the antithesis of their efforts at Exeter and Bedford as players gave up the chase, as they allowed the returning Chris Yates to break through without the merest hint of a tackle. Good enough for National One standard perhaps but if this side have any ambition to become a Premiership outfit, they need to rediscover the focus which had been so sharp for most of the season.

The only positive point to pull from the match would have been the character shown in the second half. Tom Barlow's penalty, to add to his three first-half conversions, extended Plymouth's lead to 29-24 and, if the alarm bells weren't ringing at half time, they were deafening by the 50th minute.

Tries from Chris Garrard, Roke, Gavin Pfister and David Officer, however, eventually put the result beyond doubt despite another leaked try courtesy of the pacy Matchett. James Brown added some assurance from fly half in the second half with a no-nonsense display of passing and kicking. His three conversions and a penalty showed the value of the extra points which an off-key Walsh, three conversions apart, couldn't conjure up.

In the end, you were left with a scoreline which failed to reflect the drama of the game. Worcester were only safe two minutes from time when Pfister, thanks to clever play from skipper Werner Swanepoel, dived over to seal victory.

Before that, the ground was a nervy place particularly when Yates took the ball. Ironic that he probably enjoyed his most effective 80 minutes at Sixways after a lack-lustre 12 months for the Warriors last season.

The nervousness was all the more incredible when you looked through Plymouth's side. Yes, they had some talents and a little pace through the backs but other than that, they were limited. If players aren't tackled, though, they have a nasty habit of running on to score.

For the 2,018 crowd it was a hugely absorbing encounter. Worcester will win many friends for playing in such an entertaining manner.

But as the Worcester coaching staff are painfully aware, the tag 'entertainers' is generally a euphemism for the kind of generosity on display at Sixways. It will win more friends than it will matches.

If Worcester had turned defence into an art form back in January, they'd better get back to the drawing board and quick.

Worcester: Roke 6, Ezulike 4, Officer 7, Trueman 7, Garrard 6, Walsh 5, NSWANEPOEL 8; Windo 6, Hall 6, Lyman 7, Zaltzman 7, Gillies 6, Gabey 4, Pfister 7, Evans 7.

Replacements: O'Reilly, Brown 6 (Walsh 63), Ogilvie-Bull, Pearl, Olver, Quinnell 5 (Gabey 40), Nias.

Man of the match: Werner Swanepoel - kept on going and looked lively.