The final match of the Championship season saw Worcester promoted back to the Premiership and it will be regarded as one of the best finals ever contested between two Premiership standard outfits. The rugby on display was of the highest quality, cheered on by two admirable sets of fans who swarmed in their thousands to the two legs and they were and are a credit to both clubs. The two legs were so closely contested neither team deserved to lose and it could have gone either way.
With five minutes left, Bristol were 13 points to the good and Andy Robinsons men looked to have finally got it right and pulled off one of the greatest comebacks of all time being 11 points down at the break. However two quick tries in last five minutes from Worcester, with the final try coming 24 seconds from the end, finished by Chris Pennell. A man who is Worcester through and through having signed a new contract when they went down, loyalty has been repaid on both sides. These two tries were greatly helped by Bristol being down to thirteen men with yellows to Dwayne Peel and Jack Lam. Much like when Worcester were hampered by having Cooper Vuna in the sin bin, Bristol struggled to cope with the relentless attack and with the final kick of the game it secured a seventh successive season in England’s second tier for Bristol. This is a club with tremendous resources and the players to back that up, however they seem to possess the play off curse when it comes down to the big moments.
During the first leg Worcester looked comfortable dealing with Bristol’s attack minded style of play and countered when the time was right, it is clear to see they are based on defence and they defended for long periods during the two legs. They were only breached by shows of brilliance, led by the maestro that is David Lemi and greatly helped by the playmakers that are Matthew Morgan and Nicky Robinson. If it wasn’t for the misfiring boot of Ryan Lamb in the first leg, the gap could have been much more than one point coming into this game.
This match in essence was a shootout and Bristol started the better getting the upper hand at the set piece and Worcester were on the back foot early on. With big names missing for Bristol, they had to start well and they did. However opting to not take the three points on various occasions early on proved costly as Bristol couldn’t convert these attacking opportunities and ended up trailing 16-6 at the break (11 on aggregate). The misfiring boot of Nicky Robinson didn’t help, much like his opposite number the week before.
Bristol came out in the second half and looked to have played the 40 minutes of their lives scoring 24 points, however once again they were denied that illusive playoff win. It seems to be clear that in some big moments within this game and play offs beforehand, the senior members of the squad have made the wrong decision at crucial times by trying to force something when it is not needed. This ultimately led to their downfall.
Dean Ryan came to Worcester at a time of disarray and has turned the clubs fortunes around, created a united culture and has players in the shirt that want to be there and now they are back in the Premiership at the first time of asking. Although they are losing players, they have equally made strong signings in order to compete in the Aviva Premiership.
Many would argue both of these teams belong in the Premiership, few would disagree. Bristol have finished top of the pile the last two seasons and fallen short. This season these two teams were leagues apart from the rest, but only one could go up. There is talk of the Premiership expanding allowing those with the infrastructure to move up, but until that time Bristol have to deal with the fact they will once again be a Championship Club next season. It is only going to get harder with many teams now gaining more investment but once again, next season Bristol will start as favourites.
It would be wrong for people to talk ill of Andy Robinson and his men as they could not have done anything more in the game, but yet again they just fell short. It would seem they need to go away, regroup and come back next year with a stronger squad once again. At those crucial moments also, the decision making needs to be better. Bristol describe the “journey” they on are on with everyone at the club all buying into the same goal, they also firmly believe they will reach their goal eventually.
The play off system has been questioned as technically those who win the league should go up and there will no doubt be many discussions over the system and how it has hampered Bristol over the coming weeks.
It has been a fantastic season in the Greene King IPA Championship and this final was an excellent advert for a league that is fast growing in popularity.
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