Worcester Sixth Form College, which contains 20 of the Warriors apprentices, have stormed into the last 32 of the Daily Mail U18 Cup with a convincing 31-15 victory over local rivals Chase Malvern School on Wednesday (November 7).
Worcester took an early lead after Matt Marskell gave the home side good field position and from the ensuing lineout Shaun Hooper barged his way over to give his side a 5-0 lead.
The Chase, who had been 19-0 winners against Kings in the previous round, came back strongly and from a five-metre lineout forced their way over for a converted score to edge ahead.
Worcester hit back immediately with a well worked backs move and when Andy Short was offered the outside space he accepted and showed fantastic strength and pace to finish under the posts for a 12-7 lead.
From scrappy ball another fine backs move resulted in a third try for the home side as Luke Cooke sped his way over to give Worcester Sixth Form College a healthy lead.
Chase responded with a penalty before the home side completed an impressive first half showing when centre Short grabbed the bonus point try just before the break.
Both sides rang the changes in the second half but Worcester lost none of their inventive and attacking nature and crossed for a fifth try when Cooke showed good pace to finish in the corner taking the score to a emphatic 31-10.
Chase showed great commitment to dominate the final quarter of the game and were rewarded with a pushover try in the dying minutes.
Matt Sherratt, Warriors Academy apprenticeship co-ordinator, said: “For a side that has only been together for 10 weeks to reach the last 32 of a 515 team tournament is a fantastic achievement.
“The players have shown some glimpses of quality and a work rate that is second to none. This again shows the worth of the apprenticeship scheme and the massive benefits players will gain from being involved in a full-time professionally run rugby development scheme.”
Warriors are recruiting already for next year’s intake and there is an open evening on Thursday, November 15 for prospective candidates and parents at Worcester Sixth Form College. For further details contact Matt Sherratt at matt@wrfc.co.uk