Worcester Warriors finished the Guinness Premiership season in style as they thumped Newcastle 51-10 in a eight-try hammering of running rugby to fly above the Falcons in the table.
Mike Ruddock’s men turned up the heat on a sweltering hot day as the tries flew over for the inspired home side.
Miles Benjamin (2), Aleki Lutui, Pat Sanderson, Thinus Delport, Rico Gear, Marcel Garvey and Chris Horsman all crossed the whitewash as the Falcons were put to the sword in commanding fashion.
Ruddock had called for his side to battle for cup final places later this month and they showed their desire with a gripping show as the end of season party hit the high notes.
There was a party atmosphere from the off at Sixways Stadium as the curtain fell of the Guinness Premiership season under real sunny skies.
Warrior legends Delport, Tony Windo, Drew Hickey and Shane Drahm received a standing ovation as they led the team out and Warriors flew out of the traps from the off. The backs went left and right with real menace with Delport making an initial break in midfield before Falcons were penalised for not rolling away.
A succession of penalties saw Warriors kick for the corner and show the real confident in the side to go for tries ahead of kicks at goal. The decision paid off as Sanderson leapt from the back of a rolling maul to crash over the line and give his side the dream start in the final home game. Drahm slotted the penalty for a 7-0 lead.
Falcons responded with some possession of their own but John Rudd was tackled by Miles Benjamin before the winger was then shunted out by Matt Powell as Worcester battled for the ball back.
Worcester were firing in some big tackles in midfield as Newcastle looked to make slick hands count and unlock the home defence. Delport again showed neat feet and strength to escape the clutches of Tim Vissrer after an intelligent kick over the top put the full back in trouble.
Drahm thrilled the fans with a darting run from deep that saw him jink past a number of flaying Newcastle tackles as the diminutive fly half looked to leave a lasting impression in his final home appearance before departing for Japan.
Newcastle were struggling to get any possession and breakdown a pumped up Warriors side with another penalty allowing Drahm to drill it to the corner. Quick thinking saw hooker Aleki Lutui take a short lineout and get the ball back from Rawlinson before barging over for a magical individual score. Drahm’s kick just drifted wide right but the lead was extended to 12-0.
Worcester were looking to run from deep and Drahm’s booming boot was putting the Falcons on the back foot in their own half for long periods. But from nowhere Ollie Phillips showed neat feet to scamper over for a superb individual effort, despite angry protests from home fans that he had failed to ground the ball. The conversion from Steve Jones cut the lead to 12-7.
Newcastle lost Rob Vickers for pulling back as Drahm again made a break in midfield and the fly half made the indiscretion count as he drilled a penalty sweetly through the middle.
A stray pass from Powell put Drahm in trouble in his own half and the number 10 had to scramble back to boot to touch. It gave Newcastle a great attacking platform from the lineout just metres from the home line. But the ball was not fed in straight and when the scrum collapsed the penalty went against the visitors allowing Drahm to boot clear and relieve the pressure.
Worcester finished the first half in the ascendancy with more attacking play but when they were pinned for not releasing the chance looked to have gone. But when the penalty failed to find touch back came Warriors with Garvey pressing the gas to make room out wide.
Newcastle then lost a lineout and when Sanderson went wide it found Chris Horsman who celebrated a first start since October by diving over before booting the ball high into the South Stand to celebrate. Drahm was just wide with his conversion but the lead was 20-7. Just before the break Jones hit a penalty to cut the lead to 20-10 at the interval.
Worcester started the second half as they had ended the first as they ran the channels to try and cut open the Falcons open and score the elusive fourth try for the bonus point. It took them less than two minutes as fan’s hero Delport dived over to a huge ovation before chants of ‘Thinus. Thinus’ rang around Sixways to acclaim the South African star. Drahm was just wide with his conversion attempt.
Warriors were now running the ball with real venom from all over the field as Sanderson and Rawlinson made big yards in midfield with bulldozing runs. When quick ball was secured the intelligent Drahm chipped over to Benjamin who reacted smartly to touch down in the right corner.
Three minutes later the wing was at his try-scoring best again as he raced up on the shoulder of Drahm after he broke the line before pressing the gas to scorch over for try number six to leave Falcons reeling in shock after three tries in eight minutes. Drahm’s kick took the home side 37-7 ahead.
The all-action Lutui was replaced by Matt Mullan and Will Bowley took the spot of Rawlinson as the game entered the final half hour and Warriors went for the kill.
Hickey was introduced for his farewell appearance on home soil for skipper before Gear exploited a huge goal in the visiting defence that Drahm converted as Warriors nudged towards the half century.
Drahm’s cross field kick again almost unlocked the creaky Newcastle defence but Horstmann just failed to gather before Chris Pennell replaced two-try star Benjamin and Drahm left to a standing ovation.
The changes had little impact on rampant Warriors as a length of the field move saw Garvey stretch over to score and Hickey stepped up to convert to huge cheers and cap a superb final day.
Timeline:
04m Sanderson t Drahm c 7-0
18m Lutui t 12-0
26m Phillips t Jones c 12-7
28m Drahm p 15-7
38m Horsman t 20-7
40m Jones p 25-10
41m Delport t 25-10
46m Benjamin t 30-10
49m Benjamin t Drahm c 37-10
55m Gear t Drahm c 44-10
65m Garvey t Hickey c 51-10
Warriors: 01 Tony Windo, 02 Aleki Lutui (Mullan 48), 03 Chris Horsman (Taumoepeau 54), 04 Greg Rawlinson (Bowley 48), 05 Craig Gillies, 06 Netani Talei, 07 Pat Sanderson (Hickey 54), 08 Kai Horstmann, 09 Matt Powell (Arr 55), 10 Shane Drahm (Carlisle 64), 11 Miles Benjamin (Pennell 59), 12 Dale Rasmussen, 13 Rico Gear, 14 Marcel Garvey, 15 Thinus Delport
Replacements: 16 Matt Mullan, 17 Tevita Taumoepeau, 18 Will Bowley, 19 Drew Hickey, 20 Jonny Arr, 21 Joe Carlisle, 22 Chris Pennell