London Irish 25 : 25 Worcester Warriors (aet)

(Warriors win on tries scored)

It was pulsating; it was nerve wracking; it was nailbiting. It was everything a cup final could dream of. Kicks were missed. Discipline broke down. Referees heard opinions. They sent the culprits back ten yards. Passes were dropped. And at the end Worcester Warriors won their first ever top level national trophy.

London Irish had made a trademark out of close finishes with six draws this season and that astounding comeback against Wasps.

This time they were on the wrong end. 80 minutes had ticked by and they led 25-18. Pile on after pile on tried to break the thick green line by erosion as much as power or skill.

As long as the ball remained in play, the game would continue. If it left play, London Irish would win the Cup.

Eventually Kyle Hatherell crashed over to bring Worcester to within two points. For the first of many times, the crowd hushed as kicker Fin Smith lined up the conversion. He scored. Worcestershire cheered. And the game went to extra time and two periods of ten minutes..

The tiebreaker after extra time was most tries. Warriors’ scum half Gareth Simpson did not wake up knowing that this morning:

“They told us at the end of the game quickly, so the boys knew what was required of us and we managed to do it.”

Ben White had scored the sole Irish try. Matt Kvesic and Perry Humphreys had scored before Hatherell’s match saving effort so Worcester went into extra time needing no more than to keep their posts and line intact.

But the Warriors’ discipline failed them.

On no less than four occasions in the second half, referee Wayne Barnes sent them back ten yeard for arguing about his decisions. On several occaions, that brought a penalty into kickable range for Paddy Jackson.

The Ulsterman had kicked six penalties and converted the only try during a near flawless 73 minutes. Then came his first miss after Worcester’s fourth punishment for talking back to the referee. Their indiscipline halted then. Jackson’s trauma continued.

Extra time was a nightmare, he had only missed that one kick in the 80, but contrived to miss all three in extra time.

Simpson said:

“It was tough to watch. We know Paddy Jackson is one of the best there is so every time he had one of those kicks, it’s heart in the mouth stuff.

“But I think the boys played on the right areas at the end there. We tried to not  give them easy kickable ones. The ones he had to kick were from very difficut places.

“The boys did well to not give him the easy kickable ones and in the end it was well worth it.”

The last word goes to Simpson:

“It’s a special moment for the club. We haven’t had these moments so often. The boys are just really happy and really stoked with that result.

“You saw at the end that some of the boys were exhausted and its understandable. They all out their bodies on the line. It shows how close we are as a squad that the boys are willing to go that extra mile.”

Worcester Warriors have a few second their titles in their history but this moment will rank as the biggest in their existence.

And there will never be a punishment for talking about it!

Line-ups

London Irish: Arundell; Cinti, Joseph, Van Rensburg, Hassell-Collins; Jackson, White; Gigena, Willemse, M Van der Merwe, Munga, Simmons, Rogerson (capt), Gonzalez, Tuisue.

Replacements: Cornish, Goodrick-Clarke, Parker, Mafi, Donnell, Englefield, Rona, Loader.

Worcester Warriors: Shillcock; Humphreys, Venter, Beck, D Van der Merwe; Smith, Simpson; Waller, Annett, Judge, Batley, G Kitchener, Hatherell, Kvesic, Hill (capt).

Replacements: Miller, Sutherland, McCallum, A Kitchener, Lewis, Chudley, Lawrence, Hearle.

Referee: Wayne Barnes

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