Saints keep Worcester adrift

Editor

Second-half tries from Samu Manoa, Tom Collins and Tom Wood boosted Northampton to a 33-10 win over Worcester.

Second-half tries from Samu Manoa, Tom Collins and Tom Wood boosted Northampton to a 33-10 win over Worcester.

Despite controlling the first half, Northampton went into the interval 7-6 behind through Ignacio Mieres' try, while Stephen Myler kicked two penalties for the visitors.

Myler and Chris Pennell traded three-pointers in the second period before Samu Manoa, Tom Collins and Tom Wood all touched down to secure a comfortable victory.

Although the hosts started brightly with a kickable penalty being missed by Mieres, the Saints took command.

The scrum, such an area of weakness for Dean Ryan's men this term, was continuously on the back foot and that allowed the visitors to dominate possession and territory.

However, Worcester's defence remained strong and two Myler penalties in the first 20 minutes was all they had to show for their efforts.

And after Ken Pisi had a try disallowed for a forward pass, the home team amazingly took the lead at the break when Paul Hodgson charged down Myler's kick and Mieres scampered over.

Buoyed by their first half display, the Warriors went on the front foot after the interval, but it was Northampton who were next to score through the boot of their stand-off.

Pennell regained the advantage for the hosts with a three-pointer before Manoa crashed across the whitewash.

Myler added a penalty before Collins and Wood went over late on as the Saints recorded yet another win.

The scorers:

For Worcester:
Try: Mieres
Con: Mieres
Pen: Pennell

For Northampton:
Tries: Manoa, Collins, Wood
Cons: Myler 2
Pens: Myler 4

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 James Stephenson, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Dean Hammond, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 Jonathan Thomas (c), 7 Sam Betty, 6 Richard de Carpentier, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 James Percival, 3 Rob O'Donnell, 2 Chris Brooker, 1 Ofa Fainga'anuku.
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington, 17 George Porter, 18 John Andress, 19 Mike Williams, 20 Chris Jones, 21 Jeremy Su'a, 22 Paul Warwick, 23 Max Stelling.

Northampton Saints: 15 Glenn Dickson, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Dom Waldouck, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Calum Clark, 5 Christian Day, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Alex Waller.
,Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Alex Day, 22 Vasily Artemyev, 23 Tom Stephenson

Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Stuart Terheege
TMO: David Sainsbury