Richard Hill believes Worcester Warriors still struck a psychological blow with the manner of the emphatic opening hour in the victory over London Welsh – but conceded his team still had to improve as a sloppy finale saw the visitors take a try bonus point.
Head Coach Hill was delighted with an outstanding opening half as Kai Horstmann, Andy Goode, Marcel Garvey and Miles Benjamin all crossed the whitewash as Warriors cruised to a bonus point with a breathtaking display of attacking rugby for 40 minutes.
However, a final flourish from London Welsh saw them score four tries in the final quarter, as Worcester rang the changes, to leave Hill frustrated and demanding more from his troops.
“For sixty minutes it was top quality rugby – then for 20 minutes it was like last week against Nottingham and we are disappointed to let them in for some tries,” he said.
“The first 40 minutes I thought we were outstanding, faultless really and I couldn’t pick them up on too much.
“We were clinical and the set piece was good. The backs were on fire and made use of the chances we created and defensively we were very secure.
“I let it go for 10 or 15 minutes in the second half before making the replacements and when we were 39-3 up we were so far on top it was excellent.
“I am disappointed that we conceded the tries we did towards the end. London Welsh are dangerous and in the end they just threw it around and attacked from deep.
“It was frustrating and I thought we would get the 80-minute performance,” he admitted. “We had a bigger lead than we had against Nottingham and we talked to the bench, at half-time as well as before the game, and told them we had to make up for last week and produce the energy and go on.
“But we made sloppy decisions. We didn’t get much ball the last 20 minutes, but there were some times when we were just too sloppy and did things in the second half that we wouldn’t have done in the first. We needed more control but got loose and let them back into the game.”
The result takes Worcester just three shy of the ton in the league season ahead of the trip to Birmingham & Solihull next Saturday (kick-off 2pm).
And Hill believes the way in which his team played in the opening hour would have struck a blow to London Welsh.
“I do think it was still a big win psychologically,” he added. “I spoke to Phil Greening and Mike Friday after the game and they saw that the first 60 minutes they weren’t in the game and we outplayed them.
“When we get our heads on and concentrate no team can stop us. I could hear what they were saying on the bench and at 39-3 the game was over. They were just desperate to get those four tries and a bonus point – they had a real incentive because they want to finish third.
“We know that we have still got some work to do. The ending will stimulate us and make us angry – I am not happy about what happened and the bench players that came on are not happy because it reflects badly on them. We have got to go and prepare for the next game and make sure this gives us the edge to get better.”