Worcester wipe Saints with 0rdinariness
By Olney Saint
September 30 2006
Let's start with the good news. I promise never to do another match report. I am obviously jinxed three matches = three inept defeats.
In last week's report I dared to say that i thought that King Carlos didn't have a good game. Today even the Carlos of last week would have shone out like a beacon in this poor, poor game. Worcester obviously haven't been playing well this season and i don't think they played particularly well today but they didn't have to to comfortably beat the Saints. I cannot remember a display since the dark days of our near relegation when there were so many dropped balls, knock-ons, poor passing and overall lack of anything like Premiership level skill.
I sit in the South Stand and the thickness of my glasses has only been beaten on a close call by Mr.Magoo so detailed descriptions of any of the tries which were all scored
The first Worcester try was the sort of try that Saints just do not get enough of. Two or three forward drives resulted in Gavin Quinnell getting the score. I always thought his dad was an underrated player and it appears that the family genetics may go on to result in the third son becoming a very good player too. Saints put in plenty of attacks but the poor levels of execution meant that possible overlaps were butchered. It seemed to me that Worcester had the better of the scrums and line-outs all day but this was difficult to judge as Mr.Richards didn't let 3 consecutive set pieces run without a free kick or penalty. Quinnell again went over after some strong forward play and Saints appeared clueless as one attack saw 3 poor kicks from the halfbacks which actually lost us ground and possession. A Worcester penalty stretched their lead and a try at the end of the first half which may have changed things never came as Worcester got away with stopping a crosskick illegally.
The clouds over the Gardens were now the only thing blacker than my mood but our start to the second half fleetingly gave me hope. Dylan Hartley who was one of a handful of Saints players along with Sharky, Robbie and Daniel Browne to perform managed to get a try back and for a few moments i dared to hope of a great come back. However that vain hope vanished when Quinlan was sin binned for an early tackle as Worcester threatened. I had a good view of this and i think that the ref got it wrong. Worcester kicked the resulting penalty and despite having a lot of ball we could not construct the necessary openings for the tries to come. Sharky who made a difference when he came on got a try back but it was only ever going to be a consolation. Worcester showed a lot of professionalism as with the help of numerous scrum resets and the world record for having a trainer on they saw the game out. Fair play to them though i don't blame them and its not sour grapes, they deserved to win.
Sorry if this hasn't been the best of reports as i'm having to hurry it through before i go and watch the Stranglers. The trouble with today could be summed up by 3 of their songs. We played well for "5 Minutes". Without Bruce there appears to be "No More Heroes" and before next week "Something Better Change".