Worcester 3-48 Leicester: Tigers rip toothless Warriors to pieces

STEVE Borthwick was thrilled with both human bull-dozer Nemani Nadolo and England fly-half George Ford as Tigers ripped Worcester to shreads in a one-sided contest at Sixways.

At times it was painful watching for the hosts as the men from Welford Road proved they really do mean title business and soared to a seven-point lead at the summit.

It is the first time in their Premiership history they have won their opening five games and they achieved one of their highest away wins in the competition to remain the only unbeaten side.

Dreams of ending their long eight-year wait to be crowned champions again are growing but Borthwick will ensure his players will not get too carried away.

He said: “We still have things to improve on and fix. We have Sale next and they looked really good against Quins.

“There is growth in us. I said enjoy this win, you worked very hard, recover well tomorrow and then think of Sale.”

Borthwick added: “Nemani is a real handful for any opposition because of his size and power, and he was excellent today.

“George did everything good today. He pulled the strings and was very, very good.”

Wing Harry Potter began the mauling of woeful Worcester as he conjured up a stepping, surging run through attempted tacklers and then across the line for a fine try.

Ford added the extras and you sensed it would be a long afternoon for Warriors. The men in blue did respond with a long-range penalty from Billy Searle after Tigers lock Eli Snyman was guilty of an early tackle.

A pumped up Ellis Genge needed treatment on a cut and bruised eye after being halted in his charge up field by a hefty tackle from lock Andrew Kitchener.

But the home side had no answer when Ford’s pass found Matias Moroni on the left and the centre slipped through a gap to cross for the second try.

The physical difference between the two sides was vast. Time and again Warriors were forced into desperate defending, and when they did manage to turn the ball over it was merely kicked down field and returned with interest.

The third try came when the Tigers pack growled forward once more and referee Luke Pearce decided Argentine hooker Julian Montoya had managed to roll his way across the line and ground the ball from a maul.

Rare Worcester pressure on the Tigers line led to Pearce running out of patience and showing flanker Hanro Liebenberg a yellow card. But it was 14- man Tigers who struck the next blow as the giant Nadolo trampled through a couple of tacklers and offloaded for the supporting Richard Wigglesworth. The 38-year-old scrum-half had only been on the field for a few minutes as he raced over for his try converted by Ford.

Replacement hooker Nic Dolly crossed for the next Tigers try after being sent on his way by Nadolo and Wigglesworth.

Matt Scott fed Nadolo as Worcester’s defence melted again and the wing charged over for the sixth try and it was left to replacement fly-half Freddie Burns to finish the thrashing with a chip through and dive on the ball for a superb solo effort.

Warriors veteran hooker Scott Baldwin admitted: “It was embarrassing. There are no excuses but to say we just didn’t play well at all. We were also naive kicking to Nadolo the way we did.”

By GARY FITZGERALD

Worcester ……….3pts

Penalties: Searle 17

WORCESTER: Doel 6 (Morris 74, 6); Humphreys 6, Lawrence 6, Venter (co-c) 6, Van der Merwe 7; Searle 7 (Smith 58, 6), Chudley 6 (Simpson 55, 6); Sutherland 6 (Waller 58, 6), Baldwin (co-c) 6 (Miller 48, 6), Judge 6 (Tyack 52, 6); Kitchener 6 (Batley 52, 6), Clegg 7; Hatherell 6, Lewis 6, Vailanu 6 (Kvesic 71, 6)

Leicester ……….48pts

Tries: Potter 13, Moroni 27, Montoya 34, Wigglesworth 57, Dolly 68, Nadolo 73, Burns 75

Conversions: Ford 14, 34, 58; Burns 74, 76

Penalties: Ford 6