Tuesday, August 22, 2000

WORCESTER Rugby Club's failure to turn possession into points cost them a 21-6 defeat in last night's pre-season friendly at North-ampton.

The Sixways club had the majority of the ball in a hard-fought encounter against the Saints' Wanderers side, but too often the final pass was rushed and the visitors were unable to cross the home tryline.

Despite the final scoreline, the potential in the visitors' squad was obvious throughout and Worcester are well on track to tackle the newly-named National Division One when league action kicks off on September 9.

"We spent most of the second-half in the Northampton '22' but failed to come away with points.

"We tended to rush things a little too much," said Worcester Chief Executive Geoff Cooke.

"Northampton came into our half of the pitch just three times and came away with points every time -- that was the difference between the two sides," he said.

Worcester led for the whole of the first-half, with a penalty from Sateki Tuipulotu on 22 minutes.

Worcester came back from the break the stronger side with attacks from centres Laulala Langkilde and Andy Higgins putting pressure on Northampton.

An opportunist try from the home side gave them a 7-3 lead, but a second penalty from Tuipulotu put Worcester back on track.

Northampton's patience paid off, however, as they ran in two late tries to stretch the scoreline and put the game beyond Worcester's reach.