Worcester Warriors travel to the Memorial Stadium to tackle Bristol in the Guinness Premiership on Saturday – and now we have all the stats to heighten your viewing!
We have teamed up with www.statbunker.com to give you all you need to know for the big kick-off!
Current Form
With only 2 matches left to play, the finish to this season’s Guinness Premiership is the most exciting in the history of the competition with 6 teams still having a chance of reaching the Premiership play-offs.
Bristol and Worcester are not two of them. Bristol didn’t play last weekend but last time out they were beaten 32-14 at Leicester and stayed in 9th position in the Premiership table, 5 points clear of Newcastle and 8 ahead of Worcester.
They have played 10 matches at home this season, winning 5, losing 4 and drawing 1.
They have lost their last 3 home games.
Worcester won one of the most important games in the club’s history last Friday night beating Newcastle 31-16 to reach the European Challenge Cup final for the first time. Disappointingly, only 6795 attended the game, which is lower than any crowd they have attracted to all their 10 Guinness Premiership matches at Sixways this season. They will now meet Bath in the Final at Kingsholm on 25th May and the winners will be playing in the Heineken Cup next season.
Worcester met Bath the previous weekend in the Premiership and were just pipped 23-20. They are still 11th in the table, but with Bristol on Saturday and Newcastle at home to come, they still have a reasonable chance of improving their finishing position.
Worcester have played 10 matches away from home in the Premiership this season and won just one, at Sale Sharks in February.
History
Bristol and Worcester have met 9 times in league rugby since 1998.
Bristol have won 3 times to Worcester’s 6.
Both teams have won twice in Bristol.
Worcester completed a league double against Bristol in 2004 and 2006 and Bristol completed a league double against Worcester last season.
In National League One in April 2004, Worcester beat Bristol 68-15.
Worcester beat Bristol 25-5 at Sixways in January.
Trends and Trivia
Bristol have lost their last 4 matches in the Premiership, their worst run this season.
Although they have lost 4 in succession a number of times in recent seasons, the last time they lost 5 consecutive Premiership matches was between August and September 2000.
Bristol have also lost their last 3 home matches, to Bath at Ashton Gate and Harlequins and Sale at the Memorial Stadium. The last time they lost 3 at home was between August and September 2000. The last time they lost more than 3 at home was in the horrendous 1997/98 season when between November 1997 and May 1998 they lost 9 consecutive games at home.
Bristol’s average home attendance this season is 9179. The highest attendance was the 16243 at Ashton Gate for the Bath match and the lowest the 6439 for the visit of Leeds.
Jason Strange has scored 74 points for Bristol this season and Ed Barnes 60. Tom Arscott tops the tries with 7.
Jason Strange has been Bristol’s top points scorer for the last 3 seasons including 244 points in 2005/06 which made him the top points scorer in the Premiership.
The only other Bristol player to be the leading points scorer in the top division of English rugby was Mark Tainton with 196 points in 1994/95.
Darren Crompton is the only Bristol player to have played in 19 of their 20 matches this season. This will be the 3rd season in succession he has made the most league appearances for Bristol having played 21 times in 2006/07 and 22 times in 2005/06.
Worcester have won 4 and drawn 2 in the Guinness Premiership this season. Their worst ever return in their 3 previous seasons in the Premiership was 6 wins and a draw last season.
They have gained 27 league points this season. Last season was their lowest in the Premiership, 34.
Worcester have not gained a try bonus point in any of their matches in the last 2 seasons. The last time they managed a try bonus point was in April 2006 when they beat Saracens 35-27 at Sixways.
On a positive note though, Worcester have scored 37 tries so far this season, 22 at home and 15 away. The most they have ever scored at home in the Premiership is 22 in both 2005 and 2006 and the most tries they have ever scored in a Premiership season is 40. Both records should be beaten this season.
Worcester have converted the fewest number of penalty kicks in the Premiership this season, just 27 in 20 matches. They have kicked 12 at home and 15 away. Leicester are the only other club in the division that has converted more penalties this season away from home than they have at home. Worcester have kicked 13 penalties in the first-half of their matches and 14 in the second-half. Sale are the only other club in the Premiership to have kicked more penalties in the second-half of their matches than the first-half.
Shane Drahm has scored 104 points for Worcester in the Premiership this season. He was also top scorer in 2006/07 with 156 points and in 2005/06 with 233 points.
Miles Benjamin has now scored 6 Premiership tries this season.
Craig Gillies and Tevita Taumoepeau are the only 2 players to have appeared in all Worcester’s 20 Guinness Premiership matches this season.