Saturday, April 22, 2000

WORCESTER'S disappointing season dipped to an all-time low on Saturday with an abject 21-15 defeat against relegation threatened Rugby Lions.

It was their worst display of the season, one which Geoff Cooke described as a nightmare.

Despite debutant scrum-half Chris Simpson-Daniel scoring two opportunist tries at the start of each half, Worcester were simply second best to a side recording just their fifth victory of the season.

Worcester hardly touched the ball in a first half that also saw them lose both captain Richard Denhardt and hooker James Richards to injury.

They belatedly came to life after the break but any hopes of a come-back were dashed by some dreadful errors and a high penalty count which handicapped them throughout the game.

Rugby scored first-half tries through prop Paul Shadbolt and full-back Martyn Davies who also kicked a conversion and three penalties.

"We didn't play very well today but there's nothing intrinsically wrong," said temporary first team coach Geoff Cooke.

"With a game like that no team in the world could win a game after making that many basic mistakes and giving away so many penalties.

"We also lost two players in the forwards in the first half but it's very simple we made too many mistakes. In the first half they kept the ball and stuffed it up their shirts and we couldn't get the ball back and when we did we either kicked aimlessly or lost it.

"When the pack aren't playing well the half-backs have to keep the ball in front of them and give them something to aim at.

"The only ray of hope was Chris Simpson-Daniel who did very well on his first appearance and scored two opportunist tries, take out those and we would have looked like a sorry bunch.

"They're professional players who practise all week and don't drop the ball once and then on Saturday they play like that, it's a nightmare, an absolute nightmare."

Richard Denhardt's departure saw flanker Nathan Carter take over the captain's armband but it was far from a day to savour.

"We were panicking but for much of the game we were only down by one try," he said.

"The season has crumbled away and it's a mystery because we started so well and now we're struggling against the same sides we beat easily before.

"In the first-half we didn't get our hands on the ball, at half time we said we had to get our hands on the ball and try an get in scoring situation but when we got there we didn't execute it properly to apply the knock-out.

"The weather was bad but it's the same for each side, no excuses we're professional players and we train for it all week."