An outstanding display of attacking rugby saw Warriors Under 18s run in eight tries against Exeter Chiefs to win the fifth place play-off at the Under 18 Academy Finals Day at Allianz Park.
Captain Tom Ford opened the scoring in the first minute with Max Craven (two), Tom Dodd and Stan Mayne also getting on the scoresheet before the break to make it 27-7 to Warriors.
The youngsters continued their dominance in the second period with scores for Freddie Hemmingway, Jacob Ham and Robbie Smith as they put the Chiefs to the sword in a thumping win at the Club’s first-ever Finals Day.
Warriors got off to a flying start with Ford diving over the tryline out wide after Exeter failed to clear their lines from kick-off.
Chiefs responded immediately through Sam Daly after they won successive scrums on the Warriors five-metre line and Harvey Skinner added the kick to give Exeter the lead for the only time in the game.
Warriors went back in front soon after, when Ben Fowles powered through a number of defenders and passed to Alex Hearle who fed Craven to apply the finish.
And the youngsters scored again moments later when Dodd scored off the back of a driving lineout and Jamie Shillcock added the two points from the tee.
The free-flowing rugby continued from both sides with a number of chances at either end but Exeter failed to ground the ball after breaking through the Warriors defence.
And Mark Hewitt’s side punished the Chiefs as Shillcock drew two defenders before the ball was recycled and whipped out to Mayne on the wing, who dotted down for Warriors’ fourth try of the afternoon.
Craven then added his second just before the break, showing his pace to twist between two defenders as he crossed the tryline.
Warriors started the second-half with the same intensity, as Mayne and Craven both beat defenders to wreak havoc amongst the Exeter defence.
And with the Chiefs pinned on their own tryline for a sustained period, it was Hemmingway who increased the lead after a strong drive from the pack.
Exeter responded soon after with their first points of the half as stand-off Skinner offloaded to Aaron Chapman to score an excellent try.
But substitute Ham got Warriors’ seventh of the afternoon as he squeezed between two defenders to score shortly after entering the field and fellow replacement Charlie Morgan converted.
Exeter scored their third try minutes later with Sam Brown capping a fine Exeter break to score and Skinner converted.
But Smith added another for Warriors following an excellent run from Will Butler allowing his midfield partner an easy run-in to the line to round-off the scoring.
In a successful campaign, the win means the Under 18s won five of their seven matches in order to secure a fifth-place finish overall.
Meanwhile, London Irish defeated Gloucester Rugby to be crowned the winners of the competition and Leicester Tigers, whom Warriors beat earlier in the season, picked up a third-place finish after overcoming Wasps.
Warriors U18s: 15 Max Craven; 14 Alex Hearle (King, 60), 13 Robbie Smith, 12 Will Butler, 11 Stan Mayne (Ham, 45); 10 Ollie Allsopp (Morgan, 57), 9 Jamie Shillcock (Hollingsworth, 65); 1 James Page (Morris, 55), 2 Bec Cutting (Newman, 55), 3 Nick Rigby (Weston, 52), 4 Ted Hill, 5 James Scott, 6 Ben Fowles (Hemmingway, 28), 7 Tom Ford, 8 Tom Dodd
Replacements: 16 George Newman, 17 Joe Morris, 18 Freddie Hemmingway, 19 Lawrence Weston, 20 Charlie Morgan, 21 Jacob Ham, 22 Sam Hollingsworth, 23 Dion King
Timeline:
1m: Ford try 5-0
4m: Daly try 5-5
5m: Skinner con 5-7
7m: Craven try 10-7
11m: Dodd try 15-7
12m: Shillcock con 17-7
29m: Mayne try 22-7
31m: Craven try 27-7
48m: Hemmingway try 32-7
51m: Chapman try 32-12
52m: Skinner try 32-14
56m: Ham try 37-14
57m: Morgan con 39-14
59m: Brown try 39-19
62m: Smith try 44-19