Exiles storm past Worcester

London Irish 48 Worcester 27

Richard Thorpe grabbed two tries as London Irish ended their EDF Cup campaign on a high with a seven-try trouncing of an inexperienced Worcester.

Flanker Thorpe struck in each half as both sides produced an entertaining display of attacking rugby in testing conditions.

With neither side able to advance in the competition both coaches gave fringe players an opportunity to shine.

Few would have guessed the game was a dead rubber from the feisty opening which saw both sets of forwards come to blows in the opening five minutes.

The Exiles were dominating things up front but missed a chance to take the lead when Eoghan Hickey, replacing Mike Catt at outside-half, missed a simple penalty from in front of the posts.

Minutes later though, Irish struck with a neat try. A rumbling forward drive saw skipper Bob Casey break clear and a neat passing interchange between Sailosi Tagicakibau and Gonzalo Tiesi saw the Argentina centre scamper over in the corner, Hickey converting.

After spending the first quarter entirely in their own half, Worcester stunned the hosts with a fine try on 25 minutes.

After successive phases among the forwards, good hands from outside-half Joe Carlisle and Kai Horstmann allowed winger Miles Benjamin to slide over out wide.

Almost immediately the Exiles struck back. Tiesi was held short but quick ball saw flanker Steffon Armitage crash over and Hickey again added the extras.

As half-time approached and the game really opened up, the Warriors fought back with another score, a miss-pass from Carlisle freeing Marcel Garvey who sped home.

But there was still time for the hosts to add a third try, flanker Richard Thorpe piling over after the Worcester defence was overstretched.

The free-flowing rugby continued after the break, with Irish stretching their lead with a further try minutes after the restart.

Tiesi once again made an incisive break, and Tagicakibau was on his shoulder to speed over the line.

After Hickey kicked a penalty, the Warriors showed they still had the stomach for the fight when Horstmann crashed over for a try after a jinking run from Carlisle.

As the conditions worsened, the pace unsurprisingly dropped but the Exiles maintained their expansive style and clinched victory with quick-fire tries from Nils Mordt and Thorpe again on the hour.

Despite the Warriors producing a try from lock Will Bowley, Irish kept a stranglehold on proceedings and a Topsy Ojo break allowed Warren Fury to dive over.

A flurry of substitutions saw an increasing amount of errors creep into the game late on.

And it was the visitors who had the final word, Bowley again on hand to end a flowing move.