By Zoot
April 29 2007

So in the end it was Worcester that survived the drop at a packed and red-hot Sixways, while Saracens limped into the playoffs thanks to Leicester’s home win over Wasps. Sarries were pummelled into submission by a rampant Worcester pack, and over the course of a roasting 80 minutes were out played, out thought, out jumped and out muscled.

When we saw that Worcester was the last game of the season, we thought we’d make a weekend of it. I booked us a hotel around New Year time, and the lady remarked that I was booking early for an April date. I said it was for the rugby and her response was “oh dear – who’s going to be beating us that day?” At that stage it looked like by the last game of the season dear old Wuss would be well gone, and Sarries, maybe if we were lucky, could be pushing for a European Cup spot. I reassured her – Wuss had not long broken their duck for the season at Vicarage Road - but she was adamant. The Warriors would be as good as in National League One by the time we met.

But instead we came to the finale, with Worcester needing a win to be sure of Premiership status, and Sarries needing a win to be confirmed in the Playoffs. Who’da thought it back then? There were, of course other permutations, but these would tax the brains of a committee of Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein and Carol Vorderman, so for both teams, lets just stick with “win and you’re safe”.

I was hoping to report on an afternoon of tension, ebb and flow, fluctuating fortunes and high drama, but by the time Aleki Lutui powered over the line after only 7 minutes, the writing was on the wall for Sarries and Northampton. Shane Drahm had already missed a fairly straightforward kick at goal, and the only other early play of note was a worrying looking injury to Fabio Ongaro in the first exchanges, which seemed to leave the hooker unconscious. Mercifully he was soon getting to his feet, but perhaps the blow explains a fraught afternoon at the lineouts.

Sarries huffed and puffed, but were unable to string any meaningful possession together due to the recently re-found ability to knock on from any conceivable position, and also to the ferocity of the Worcester forwards who were constantly turning over the ball carrier.

Sarries discipline again suffered and a series of penalties meant that they were constantly on the back foot. Glen Jackson was well off target with a long range effort as Sarries sought to get something on the board, and minutes later Drahm missed a far easier kick to stretch the lead to 10 points. However, Kevin Yates was pinged on halfway after the drop out and Dave Pearson’s patience ran out and Po-Po was off for a ten-minute rest. The resulting line-out catch and drive was held up, but the ball was recycled and Drew Hickey was on hand to stretch the lead. As Drahm lined up the conversion, Glen Jackson was heading off for 11 stitches in a head wound, and was replaced by Dan Scarbrough.

This seemed to galvanise Sarries briefly, and Dan was soon on the end of one of the few flowing and error-free moves of the afternoon, and scored a fine try under the posts. Andy Farrell slotted his first Sarries points for a while, and in doing so meant a “pointless” game for Glenda – surely his first of the season?

Talking to Worcester fans afterwards, they admitted to concern at this stage, but if the crowd were worried, the team were not, and tore into the restart. Only a series of knock ons and forward passes denied them a further try before the break, and Sarries were relieved to hear the half time whistle go with only a seven point deficit.

Glen returned after half time, and Kevin Yates came back from the sin bin, joined by Dave Seymour who had been replaced with Cencus Johnston in the sin bin period. The ponytailed one was a late replacement for Richard Hill, who withdrew in the warm up for reasons as yet unknown. Tom Ryder replaced Cec on the bench.

The second half followed the pattern of the first, and those of us at the northern end of the ground saw little of Sarries as an attacking force. Worcester always looked more likely to extend their lead, and when TC threw a horrible pass inside the 22 somewhere in the direction of Rodd Penney, the opportunity arose. Penney was caught scrambling for the ball, and pushed into touch. Craig Gillies, as ever, swallowed the line out and an inevitable surge began. After a number of phases, from any one of which, Worcester could have scored, the ball was spun wide right and Dale Rasmussen sent the crowd into overdrive. Drahm missed the extras, but at 19-7, Worcester were almost home and hosed.

Sarries lineout, hesitant at best, had meanwhile gone into a standstill, and reached a nadir when Ongaro threw a squint pass straight to Gillies on the Worcester 22. This led to a period of Worcester kicking for touch, safe in the knowledge that at worst they would receive a line out back, or more likely, Gillies would nick the Sarries throw. Cairns replaced Ongaro, but there was no respite for the Sarries jumpers.

Drahm sealed it with a 40 metre drop goal, taking the score to 22-7, and Worcester saw out the last 15 minutes by keeping it tight and forcing Sarries to throw in. The afternoon was complete when Glen tried to take a quick tap and knocked on with time almost out. The scrum was recycled, kicked into touch and the Sixways celebrations could begin. Over in the East Midlands, the tears could start, and what seemed inconceivable at New Year had come to pass – Worcester had survived. Sarries had also scraped into the playoffs, but it seemed secondary to the remarkable scenes at the final whistle.

They say in games like this, that you should leave it all out there on the pitch. Fair do’s to Worcester – they did indeed leave it all out there and deserved their win, and therefore their survival. Sarries also left something out there, and Worcester will at least be thanking the visitors that they will not have to fertilise the pitch for the summer, as it has already been done.

So the season goes on for Saracens, but with form and confidence low after two successive defeats in high profile games, a visit to Castle Grim is not one to be relished. We have just been beaten by teams who finished 10th and 11th in the GP, and now we have to travel to the team who finished top. I never thought it would feel flat to get into the playoffs, but judging by the comments from the faithful on the bus and in the pubs after the game, most feel the same way.

Sarries now have to pick themselves up and prove that they can be the “form team” they were a mere three weeks ago. Then, we could beat anyone but on today’s showing we couldn’t beat an egg.

So, congrats to Worcester, commiserations to Northampton, and one last message for the boys – go out there next week and prove me wrong!

Scores – Lutui try, Drahm con 7-0. Hickey try, Drahm con 14-0. Scarbrough try, Farrell con 14-7, Rasmussen try – 19-7, Drahm dg 22-7.


Worcester Warriors: 15 Shane Drahm, 14 Lee Best, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 12 Mark Tucker, 11 Thinus Delport, 10 James Brown, 9 Matt Powell, 8 Kai Horstmann, 7 Pat Sanderson (c), 6 Drew Hickey, 5 Richard Blaze, 4 Craig Gillies, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Tony Windo.
Replacements: 16 Darren Morris, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Phil Murphy, 19 Tom Harding, 20 Nick Runciman, 21 Thomas Lombard, 22 Marcel Garvey.

Saracens: 15 Thomas Castaignède, 14 Rodd Penney, 13 Kevin Sorrell, 12 Andy Farrell, 11 Kameli Ratuvou, 10 Glen Jackson, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Dave Seymour, 6 Kris Chesney, 5 Simon Raiwalui (c), 4 Iain Fullarton, 3 Cobus Visagie, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Kevin Yates.
Replacements: 16 Matt Cairns, 17 Cencus Johnston, 18 Hugh Vyvyan, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 Moses Rauluni, 21 Adam Powell, 22 Dan Scarbrough.


Attendance: 10,197


Referee: Dave Pearson
Touch judges: Peter Huckle, Bob Mullis
TMO: Laurie Bryant