Worcester Warriors Under 18s went down 29-0 to Northampton Saints in their penultimate game of the RFU Premiership Under 18 League last Saturday.
The Saints started strongly and it wasn't long until their early pressure told. From a 10 metre lineout, the Saints forwards turned on the power and a driving maul carried Jordan Onojaife over for a try which Sam Olver converted.
Warriors soon got into the game and put together some promising passages of play to pile the pressure on Saints.
But the Northampton forward pack proved too powerful for the home side and Warriors couldn’t make the most of their possession.
After another promising Warriors attack, Northampton’s Josh Skelcey intercepted a loose pass and ran through unopposed from the halfway line. His try was again converted by Olver to put the visitors 15-0 up at the break.
The second period saw Warriors battle bravely and put together some good passing moves but they could not find a reward for their hard work.
Once again the Northampton pack started to control things after the break and they got their third try of the afternoon courtesy of Karl Wilkins, who was the beneficiary of an unstoppable driving maul.
If that score was a carbon copy of Saints' first, albeit followed by Olver's only miss of the afternoon, then the next was eerily similar to their second as Skelcey again got the chance to stretch his legs.
Skelcey caught Warriors off guard and raced through to secure a fourth try and with it a bonus point for the visitors.
After the match, Academy manager Mark Hewitt said: “Once again I was pleased with the attitude and commitment of our young players as we competed for the majority of the game.
“However Northampton were a step up from the other teams we have played in this tournament. They were well-conditioned physically, had excellent core skills and very well organised.
“Moving forward this is the bench mark where we need our young players to get to if we are to make a real impact at this level.”