57 - 14HT 35 - 7

Sixways
Att 6,097
Sat 21 Jan 17, 2:00pm

REPORT | Warriors 57-14 Enisei-STM

Warriors produced a scintillating performance at Sixways as their European Challenge Cup campaign came to an end with an emphatic 57-14 victory over Enisei-STM.

The hosts dominated from start to finish as they racked-up nine tries to treat the Sixways crowd to their biggest win of the season.

Carl Hogg’s side started strongly as Connor Braid opened the scoring with a penalty before Val Rapava Ruskin and Dean Hammond touched down in the opening quarter.

Hammond added a third on the half hour mark before Sam Betty grabbed a bonus point fourth.

Hammond went over for his hat-trick and Warriors’ fifth after 38 minutes as the hosts went 35-0 ahead.

Mikhail Gachechiladze got Enisei off the mark on the stroke of half-time but Warriors started where they left off after the interval.

Ben Howard added a sixth but Valeri Morozov added Enisei’s second as the visitors cut their deficit to 40-14.

But Warriors were relentless in their scoring and were awarded a penalty try before Sam Ripper-Smith and Max Stelling both got their names on the scoresheet moments before the end.

Warriors named a strong line-up for their final European game of the season as Donncha O’Callaghan captained the side, while the likes of Ben Te’o and Rapava Ruskin also started.

The hosts looked to dictate proceedings from the outset and Braid nudged his side ahead with a penalty after four minutes.

And Warriors soon had their first try of the afternoon as Betty teed-up Rapava Ruskin for a simple finish.

Matt Cox had intercepted a loose pass after Hammond had tackled his opposite number into touch during some sharp build-up play from Hogg’s men.

The Russians found their way into the game with their first attack as they camped on the Warriors tryline a few minutes later – but the hosts defended well and eventually won a penalty before clearing their lines.

Warriors played attacking rugby with ball in hand and shifted the ball from side to side as they looked to sign off in style.

And the home side soon had their second try of the afternoon as Hammond received the ball on the left and raced down the wing to dot down.

Warriors’ strong start put them 13-0 ahead and they certainly looked a cut above their Russian opponents on a cold day in Worcester.

Cox was proving a handful for the Enisei defence as he bundled his way forward at every opportunity.

The visitors just could not compete with Warriors as the hosts grabbed their third try on the half hour mark as Hammond again finished despite the best efforts of three defenders to halt him.

And Warriors had a bonus point fourth try wrapped up six minutes before the break as Braid set-up Betty, who ran in to touch down.

Enisei were all at sea and they were struggling to regroup as Warriors’ barrage of attacks proved relentless.

The Warriors backs were finding acres of space every time they had possession and there was still time for Hammond to claim his hat-trick and Warriors’ fifth try before the break.

Jamie Shillcock nudged a grubber kick towards the corner and Hammond judged the bounce superbly to claim the ball and race over the tryline.

The first-half had been one-way traffic for the hosts but Enisei did eventually find a way through on the stroke of half-time as Gachechiladze touched down before Kushnarev converted.

The sides turned around with Warriors 35-7 ahead and the hosts were intent on producing another outstanding half of rugby as Howard got his name on the scoresheet six minutes after the interval as he finished in the corner after the ball had been moved across the backline.

Enisei were still working hard to remain in the game and they went over for their second try of the afternoon after 54 minutes as Morozov touched down following good work from the forward pack.

That try reduced Warriors’ lead to 40-14 and the free-flowing rugby started to die down as Enisei looked to slow the game down.

But Warriors stretched their lead once again ten minutes before the end as the referee Dan Jones awarded the hosts a penalty try and sent off Igor Kurashov after the Enisei winger illegally knocked the ball into touch to prevent a home try.

Tiff Eden converted as Warriors went 47-14 ahead before Ripper-Smith and Stelling added late scores to wrap up the victory in the dying minutes.

Warriors| 15 Ben Howard, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Connor Braid, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Dean Hammond (Stelling 70), 10 Jamie Shillcock (Eden 47), 9 Luke Baldwin (De Cothi 52), 1 Val Rapava Ruskin (Bower 58), 2 Joe Taufete’e (Singleton 64), 3 Biyi Alo (Daniels 70), 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 5 Will Spencer, 6 Huw Taylor (Kitchener 55), 7 Sam Betty (Ripper-Smith 70), 8 Matt Cox

Replacements| 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Mike Daniels, 19 Andrew Kitchener, 20 Sam Ripper-Smith, 21 George de Cothi, 22 Tiff Eden, 23 Max Stelling

Timeline
4m | Braid pen 3-0
7m | Rapava Ruskin try 8-0
16m | Hammond try 13-0
27m | Braid pen 16-0
30m | Hammond try 21-0
34m | Betty try 26-0
35m | Braid con 28-0
38m | Hammond try 33-0
39m | Braid con 35-0
40m | Gachechiladze try 35-5
40m | Kushnarev con 35-7
46m | Howard try 40-7
54m | Morozov try 40-12
55m | Kushnarev con 40-14
69m | Penalty try 45-14
70m | Eden con 47-14
79m| Ripper-Smith try 52-14
80m | Stelling try 57-14


Competition: European Rugby Challenge Cup
Venue: Sixways
Referee: Daniel Jones
Game Type: Home
Fixture Round:
Attendance: 6,097
No. Name T C D P
15 Ramil Gaisin
14 Igor Kurashov
13 Yuri Baranov
12 Dimitri Gerasimov
11 Denis Simplikevich
10 Yuri Kushnarev 2C
9 Alexei Shcherban
1 Valery Morozov 1T
2 Nazir Gasanov
3 Evgeni Pronenko
4 Uldis Saulite
5 Maxim Gargalic
6 Mikheil Gachechiladze 1T
7 Andrei Temnov
8 Anton Rudoy
Replacements
16 Shamil Magomedov
17 Andrei Polivalov
18 Jake Grey
19 Evgeni Elgin
20 Aleksandr Budychenko
21 Konstantin Uzunov
22 Alexei Mikahltsov
23 Vitaly Orlov

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