Exeter 50-12 Worcester: Chiefs narrow the gap on Premiership leaders Saracens with win - Ruck

Exeter 50-12 Worcester: Chiefs narrow the gap on Premiership leaders Saracens with win

  • Exeter romped to a comfortable 50-12 win against Worcester at Sandy Park on Saturday
  • Tries from Thomas Waldrom, James Short, and Olly Woodburn gave Chiefs a 17-0 lead after half an hour
  • Cooper Vuna and Andy Symons scored later in the half to cut the deficit to five points heading into half-time
Exeter Chiefs gave their top-four hopes a shot in the arm with an emphatic bonus-point victory over Worcester Warriors on Saturday.

After an unbeaten March in Aviva Premiership Rugby for Dean Ryan’s Warriors – the Chiefs proved too strong in an eight-try victory that keeps them in second and looking good for a home semi-final.

Meanwhile, despite Worcester’s winning run coming to an abrupt end, they are still comfortably in tenth position with four games to play.


 


Exeter, who are now three points behind Sarries, controlled in the opening half an hour with Thomas Waldrom, James Short, and Olly Woodburn all running in tries but Gareth Steenson though was only able to convert one of the three tries.

However, scores from Cooper Vuna and Andy Symons late in the half pushed Worcester right back into the game at Sandy Park, 17-12.



But Ollie Atkins sealed the bonus point after the break and Waldrom and Woodburn both completed hat-tricks to end Worcester’s four-match winning run and rack up the half-century for the hosts.


MAN OF THE MATCH
Exeter Chiefs: Thomas Waldrom

Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ryan Mills , 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Luke Baldwin, 8 GJ van Velze (c), 7 Marco Mama, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Na’ama Leleimalefaga.
Replacements: 16 Ben Sowrey, 17 Ryan Bower, 19 James Johnston, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Andy Symons, 23 Dean Hammond.

Exeter: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Don Armand, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Jonny Hill, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Alec Hepburn,
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Alex Brown, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Sam Hill


Date: Sunday, January 31
Venue: Sixways
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant Referees: Peter Allan, Roger Baileff
TMO: Sean Davey