Match Centre: Worcester Warriors 13-17 Wasps

Worcester Warriors 13-17 Wasps, Sixways
Scorecard

Wasps have returned back to winning ways as they edged out Worcester Warriors 17-13 in the ninth round of the Gallagher Premiership at Sixways on Sunday.

This is Wasps' fifth win from nine games as they move to the fifth position in the table while Worcester are at the 11th place.

Worcester came close to scoring a try in the eighth minute when a crosskick from Jamie Shillcock was gathered by Perry Humphreys but a desperate tackle from Matteo Minozzi prevented him from going over the line.

Nevertheless they got their first points in the 11th minute with Shillcock kicking a penalty goal but Wasps responded immediately in the 15th minute when James Gaskell touched down. With Jimmy Gopperth kicking the conversion the scoreline became 3-7.

Worcester had a chance to cut short the arrears but Shillock's long-range penalty goal struck the post. Meanwhile, the visitors went on to double their tally before the break when Malakai Fekitoa's offload was capitalised by Tom Willis as he dived over and with Gopperth kicking the extras ensuring they finished the opening half with a 3-14 lead.

Humphreys had to be replaced during the break as he failed a Head Injury Assessment and with Gopperth replaced in the 57th minute, Charlie Atkinson with a penalty kick stretched Wasps' lead to 3-17 before the end of the third quarter.

Worcester showed better intent in the final quarter when a combination of Francois Venter and Michael Heaney allowed Nick David to dot down and Shillock kicked a conversion and followed with a penalty kick in the 68th minute to bring the gap down to four points which Wasps managed to hold off in a thrilling win.

Team line-up:

Worcester Warriors: Pennell; Humphreys, Venter, Beck, David; Shillcock, Simpson; Waller, Miller, Schonert, G Kitchener, Clegg, Hill, Kvesic, du Preez.

Reserves: Cutting, Thomas, Palframan, A Kitchener, van Velze, Heaney, Smith, O Morris.

Wasps: Minozzi; Kibirige, Fekitoa, Gopperth, Bassett; Atkinson, Wolstenholme; West, Taylor, Brookes, Douglas, Gaskell, Shields, B Morris, T Willis.

Reserves: Cruse, Harris, Toomaga-Allen, Vukasinovic, Vailanu, Vellacott, Umaga, Le Bourgeois.