Saturday, September 8, 2001

IF rugby is becoming overwhelmingly concerned with the power game, we saw on Saturday a glimpse of the past and possibly the future for Worcester Rugby Club.

Ben Clarke, 33, and Craig Chalmers, 32, can hardly be described as the future for the Sixways club who obliterated a dogged Birmingham & Solihull side 53-3 to stay top of National One.

However, with Clarke's sheer ferocity and Chalmers' instinctive guile, the signs are that Worcester could at last cement their place in the foundations of English rugby's elite.

Today we are endlessly told about the pace and the physical rigours of the modern game, but in every age the good players have set a pace to their own liking. It is the mark of their ability. And it was the 30-somethings' hunger for fresh success which was so compelling against Birmingham.

Chalmers - starting his first game for Worcester since his summer move - was majestic with a display of vision and practicality while Clarke followed up an energetic game against Manchester with a gritty performance in the face of absolute provocation.

"Bath have let him go," said head coach John Brain. "For me, though, he looks to have quite a bit of rugby left in him. He's in good condition, can play for 80 minutes and to have him in your team, along with Kingsley Jones and Jim Jenner, is a big bonus for us."

Birmingham, who had drawn with Worcester last season and pushed them all the way before a narrow defeat at Sixways, looked at times utterly clueless. Stretched by Worcester's innovation and power in attack and buffeted by their brick wall defence, they were on the back foot from the beginning.

Ben Hinshelwood was the first beneficiary of Chalmers' influence when, after a nonchalant dummy, he put in the Australian under the posts on four minutes. The re-invigorated Sateki Tuipulotu converted before Canada's try scoring king Winston Stanley served notice of things to come this season when he blasted away the Birmingham defence with a 30-metre sprint of the highest calibre. The former Leicester Tiger finished off a fluent move involving the impressive Richard Smith to put Worcester 12-0 up before Tuipulotu doubled his conversion tally for the day.

Birmingham punctuated the bombardment with a Paul Knight penalty before Tuipulotu added his own from near the half-way line to make it 17-3.

If Players are judged on their intuition and the ability to make the right decisions at the vital moments, Chalmers, provided he can stay fit this season, will add that killer instinct so badly missing last year from the fitful Earl Va'a.

Midway through the first half, Chalmers' beautifully weighted up-and-under totally perplexed Birmingham full-back Andy Smallwood and, after his fumbling attempt to catch had failed, centre Chris Yates was on hand to drive the ball on for Worcester's third converted try of the day.

In the face of such optimism among the supporters, the returning Nick Baxter cut a lonely figure. Back at the ground where he had made his name, the service to the now Birmingham winger was so meagre, he had to content himself with scrounging on the few scraps which came his way. And to his embarrassment, his replacement at Sixways this season, Chris Garrard scoffed at him after a fierce tackle left Baxter in a heap and out of play. The significance of the moment would not have been lost on the crowd favourite as he looked up to see Australian towering over him, wearing the smile.

After another Tuipulotu penalty, Garrard had the last laugh of the half as he continued his try-scoring run. The winger, who scored four tries against Manchester the previous weekend, again showed that supreme acceleration following a similar Stanley burst to take the fourth try and pocket the bonus point. It was left to the now struggling Tuipulotu to slot over the extra points, his last action before being replaced by Tony Yapp because of a knee problem.

If Brain wanted to promote a new brand of Total Rugby he could do worse than advertise the first 30 seconds of the second half. Prop Tony Windo was the grateful recipient of fine work from fellow pack-man Neil Lyman who ghosted in to set up the try. Chalmers converted to put Worcester 41-3 up. Birmingham added to the entertainment value by having two players sin-binned before Worcester again, like last week, finished on a high.

Three minutes before the end, Hinshelwood was on hand to finish off another move by Stanley to, with the Chalmers conversion, make it 48-3 before the Canadian ace claimed a well earned second following a Garrard surge.

Chalmers was for once off target with the boot but nothing could diminish his massive influence on a team just beginning to realise the immense potential.

"I'm coming to the end of my career," said Chalmers after the match. "I'm hoping to play this season and maybe next year but I'm not only here to play but also to pass on my experience to some of the younger boys at Worcester. We are just beginning to see what this team can do, there is a lot more to come."

Suddenly the future looks bright again at rugby's theatre of dreams. And if Clarke and Chalmers' Indian Summer can continue for a while longer, two of rugby's biggest stars could well be back where they belong. To end these magnificent careers without etching another chapter of success into the game's memoirs would be a crying shame.

Tuipulotu 8; Garrard 8, Hinshelwood 8, Yates 8, Stanley 8, CHALMERS 9, Smith 8; Windo 7, Ross 7, Lyman 8, Zaltzman 7, Morgan 7, Clarke 8, Jones 7, Jenner 7.

Replacements: Pellow 7 (Smith 73), Yapp 7 (Tuipulotu 40), Hall 7 (Ross 73), Davis 7 (Windo 73), Evans 7 (Jenner 66), Moreno 7 (Lyman 66), Sims 7 (Morgan 66).

Man of the match: CRAIG CHALMERS - massive influence.