Van der Merwe sees red as London Irish beat Worcester
PREMIERSHIP SATURDAY WRAP: Agustin Creevy crossed for two tries as London Irish ran riot against an ill-disciplined Worcester Warriors in a 43-12 home win in the Premiership.
The hosts scored seven tries in total, with Lucio Cinti, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Curtis Rona, Paddy Jackson and Ben White also crossing the whitewash.
Scotland wing Duhan Van Der Merwe was sent off in the second half for elbowing Kyle Rowe in the head to compound Warriors’ misery. The hulking winger will also certainly now miss Scotland’s upcoming Six Nations game with Italy as a result.
The opening exchanges were a battle for territory with both sides trying to establish field position through a series of kicks and it was the hosts that got the first points, Creevy barrelling over from close range after a few minutes of pressure on the Warriors line.
The wind forced Jackson to drop-kick his conversion attempt and it sailed wide to set the early score at 5-0 to the hosts.
A sin-bin for Warriors prop Christian Judge gave Irish the opportunity to increase their lead, and they did just that as a creative behind-the-back pass from Nick Phipps five metres out was worked to Jackson who offloaded to Cinti to slide into the corner.
Right on the stroke of half-time, the home side were on the board again, Gonzalez taking the ball from the back of a maul and driving through the heart of the Warriors’ line to crash over, Jackson this time able to add the extras to push the lead to 17-0.
There was just enough time for Worcester to get their first points of the day after working their way down to the Irish line. It was the job of Noah Heward to finish the job after bursting through a gap in the Irish line to touch down from close range.
The conditions improved after the restart and it allowed for more free-flowing rugby, but it was more physicality that got the first points of the half.
Creevy again finished the move off from close range to grab Irish their bonus-point try, with Jackson’s conversion making the score 24-5 after the restart.
Van Der Merwe’s red card gave Irish the chance to increase their dominance and they did just that. First a ball out wide on Van Der Merwe’s exposed wing found James Stokes, who popped the ball inside for Rona to finish the job from 22 metres out.
Jackson then crossed the whitewash after picking up a loose ball in front of the Warriors line. Both of his conversions were good as the score was pushed to 38-5.
As the game wound down, there was still time for replacement scrum-half White to score from close range to make it 43-5 and Heward to grab a consolation in the corner for Worcester.
The scores and scorers
Bath 29 Bristol Bears 27
The scorers:
For Bath:
Tries: Rokoduguni, Joseph, Faletau, Cokanasiga, De Glanville
Cons: Cipriani 2
For Bristol Bears:
Tries: Thacker 2, Naulago
Cons: Sheedy 3
Pens: Sheedy, Thacker
Gloucester 35 Northampton Saints 30
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Elrington, Seabrook, Rees-Zammit, Penalty try, Craig
Cons: Hastings 4
For Northampton Saints
Tries: Proctor, Dingwall, Collins
Cons: Biggar 3
Pens: Biggar 3
London Irish 43 Worcester Warriors 12
The scorers:
For London Irish
Tries: Creevy 2, Cinti, Gonzalez, Rona, Jackson, White
Cons: Jackson 4
For Worcester Warriors
Tries: Heward 2
Con: Smith
Saracens 34 Leicester Tigers 27
The scorers:
For Saracens
Tries: Woolstencroft 2, Lewington, Maitland, Koch
Cons: Lozowski 3
Pens: Lozowski
For Leicester Tigers:
Tries: Snyman, Dolly, Chessum
Cons: Ford 3
Pens: Ford 2