Benjamin double too much for Exiles
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:48
Wing Miles Benjamin scored twice with devastating effect as Worcester Warriors opened the EDF Energy Cup campaign with a 22-5 victory over London Irish at Sixways Stadium on Sunday.
Benjamin took his season tally to three, as Mike Ruddock's men made the ideal start to the pool stages.
Young lock Graham Kitchener also grabbed his first senior score and Loki Crichton scored late on for jubilant Warriors.
Both teams traded kicks for territory in the opening minutes, before Irish set up an attacking platform when Worcester were penalised at the breakdown. Irish looked to keep the ball alive before flyhalf Eoghan Hickey's kick in behind forced Miles Benjamin to race back and clear any danger.
Worcester finally worked their way into the Irish half, but a succession of penalties against the hosts saw play swing back up the other end in a scrappy opening ten minutes.
Centre Alex Grove got the home crowd fired up with a big hit on opposite number Dominic Shabbo, before a cross field kick from Matthew Jones just skipped on and eluded Charlie Fellows as he tore down the right wing.
A high take from Fellows came to an end after a needless tackle in the air from Tomas De Vedia. Latham kicked for the corner to set-up the perfect platform, but the ball was lost in the line-out before a penalty against Chris Fortey helped Irish clear their lines.
Warriors struck in the 15th minute when Jones intelligently chipped over the top and flank Matt Cox took a bouncing ball at full pace before feeding centre Sam Tuitupou, who tore towards the line. He was dragged up short but the ball was kept alive and Jones floated out a wide pass that took out the left wing for Irish and found Miles Benjamin who raced in. Jones stepped up to slot the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
Jones was using the chip over the top to good effect with Benjamin again picking up the ball on the left and bashing past one man before being tackled and the chance lost as the Irish defence swarmed back.
Warriors were shutting the door repeatedly with Fellows and Tuitupou teaming up to deposit De Vedia off the pitch in no uncertain terms as he looked to go down the left wing.
Irish should have got on the score sheet on 23 minutes when Fortey was penalised, but Hickey had a total nightmare from in front of the posts as he dragged his kick right.
Irish were looking to hit back with the lion's share of possession in Worcester's half in the opening half hour and when Fellows was caught trying to run the ball from deep the visitors had a useful scrum position only to lose the ball.
Benjamin set up the second try of the afternoon after his initial burst and offload to Alex Grove. The ball was again spun left at pace and after a sidestep from Tuitupou the ball was spun through quick hands from Cox to Graham Kitchener who scored his first senior try. Irish again looked to respond from the restart, but this time it was Latham on the wing who stopped De Vedia in his tracks.
Latham showed stunning feet to break through the Irish defence, but as Warriors went left – and eventually scored through Grove – the play was brought back for a forward pass on the halfway line.
Worcester lost Jake Abbott to the sin bin just before the break after a late tackle on Peter Richards, but Hickey again missed the penalty as Warriors took a 12-0 lead to the break.
The home side started the second half with plenty of attacking intent, despite missing a man. with Fellows breaking through only to knock on in the tackle as he skipped deep into the Irish half.
Hickey had a third go at registering the first points of the afternoon when Worcester gave away a penalty in front of their own posts after going over the top. But, once again, his confidence was shattered as he screwed right of the uprights.
Worcester looked a real threat when they got ball in hand in space and Tuitupou again showed strength and a neat sidestep to make 40 metres before being hauled down. Warriors went for touch but a congestion midfield saw the chance lost when they went for the score.
Abbott returned to the action for Warriors with half an hour to go while a trio of Warriors in Shaun Ruwers, Aleki Lutui and Jonny Arr all came on.
Irish got back in the game when Peter Richards took a quick tap penalty after Worcester were hit for not releasing and he ran past some static defence and evaded both Arr and Latham to score. Hickey's disastrous afternoon continued as he again missed a simple kick.
Jones was continuing to test Irish with clever kicks in behind with another resulting in Bailey taking the ball into touch with Fellows chasing him down. Worcester won the ball from the restart and after Netani Talei and Latham went close it was Benjamin who stepped inside a pass from Jones to score in the corner for a 17-5 lead.
Greg Rawlinson, Tom Wood and Loki Crichton all came on as the game entered the final quarter and Warriors remained in control of proceedings.
Benjamin looked like he might be in for his treble but the ball failed to go down the line to the young wing as Warriors hunted a final flourish.
The forwards crashed up close but were just held out but it was only a matter of time as the ball was kept going through hands and Crichton showed great strength to power over.
The scorers:
For Worcester Warriors:
Tries: Benjamin 2, Kitchener, Crichton
Con: M Jones
For London Irish:
Try: Richards
Yellow card: Jake Abbott (Worcester Warriors, 39)
The teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Latham (captain), 14 Charlie Fellows, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Matthew Jones, 9 Ben Jones, 8
Netani Talei, 7 Jake Abbott, 6 Matt Cox, 5 Craig Gilles, 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Chris Horsman, 2 Chris Fortey, 1 Darren Morris
Replacements: 16 Shaun Ruwers, 17 Aleki Lutui, 18 Greg Rawlinson, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Jonny Arr, 21 Joe Carlisle, 22 Loki Crichton
London Irish: 15 James Bailey, 14 Tomas De Vedia, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Shane Geraghty, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Eoghan Hickey, 9 Peter Richards, 8 Richard Thorpe, 7 Declan Danaher, 6 Jonathon Fisher, 5 Bob Casey (captain), 4 Gary Johnson, 3 Tonga Lea'aetoa, 2 James Buckland, 1 Dan Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Clarke Dermody, 17 James Clarke, 18 Faan Rautenbach, 19 Steffon Armitage, 20 Dominic Shabbo, 21 Tom Parker, 22 Charlie Gower.
Referee: Roy Maybank (England)
Touch judges: Paul Emerson, Andy Watson
