Worcester Warriors claimed a 30-15 victory over Northampton Saints in Round Eight of Premiership action at Sixways on Saturday.
Tries from Josh Adams and a Bryce Heem hat-trick proved too much for Northampton who scored through Jamie Gibson and Ben Foden.
The Saints gained reward for their early pressure when Stephen Myler popped over a penalty. Jono Lance responded with a penalty of his own for the opposing side after 20 minutes.
Heem got the game’s first try after a speedy backline move from the hosts saw the ball whipped through the hands with the wing finishing the move in the corner.
The visitors were then reduced to 14 men after the TMO ruled that his high hit on Chris Pennell was deemed worthy of a yellow card offence on the 29 minute mark.
And the Warriors capitalised on their numerical advantage when Heem bashed over for his brace from close range with a move from the back of the scrum to make it 15-3 to the hosts after 35 minutes.
Soon after the interval, Worcester extended the lead to 18-3 with a scrum penalty through the boot of Lance once again.
And the hosts further asserted their dominance with their third try as Adams crossed the whitewash after playing the one-two with Pennell through brilliant combination play.
Harry Mallinder’s terrific offload found Gibson who dotted down after it was whipped wide by the visitors who finally got themselves on the try column.
But it was Worcester who had the last laugh as Heem grabbed his hat-trick to put the icing on the cake and claim the 30-15 victory.
The scorers:
For Worcester:
Tries: Adams, Heem 3
Cons: Lance, Pennell
Pens: Lance 2
For Northampton:
Tries: Gibson, Foden
Con: Myler
Pen: Myler
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Jono Lance, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Alafoti Faosiliva, 5 Will Spencer, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (c), 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Matti Williams, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Pierce Phillips, 20 Christian Scotland-Williamson, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 Sam Olver, 23 Dean Hammond
Northampton Saints: 15 Harry Mallinder, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Sam Dickinson (c), 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Alex Moon, 20 Mitch Eadie, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Ben Foden
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Philip Watters
TMO: David Sainsbury
The post Worcester ease past Saints appeared first on Planet Rugby.