Aviva Premiership: London Welsh beat Worcester to end on a high
London Welsh claimed a bonus-point win in their last game in the Aviva Premiership, beating Worcester 33-22.
Last Updated: 04/05/13 5:09pm
Already relegated, Exiles ran in four tries for the first time this season to end their Premiership tenure on a high.
The home side started like a train as they were determined to end their one-season stint in the Premiership in style and young winger Dan Caprice rewarded their early enthusiasm with a try inside five minutes as he spotted a gap and outstripped the covering defenders.
And it didn't take long for the Warriors' afternoon to go from bad to worse as Neil Best was yellow-carded and moments later Alfie To'oala found himself in the right place after a driving line-out and crashed over for the hosts' second try.
Gordon Ross added both conversions and a penalty and, despite having Daniel Browne, Kirill Kulemin and Ross sent to the sin bin before half-time, the Exiles managed to make it to the break with a 17-3 lead as the visitors could only muster a solitary Andy Goode penalty in response.
Ross was missing for the opening 10 minutes of the second half after his deliberate knock-on at the end of the first but that didn't seem to hamper London Welsh at all and Tom Arscott dived over after a spell of concerted pressure from the 14 men to extend their advantage.
Footwork
Ross slotted over another three points on his return to the fray and the hosts sealed their first try bonus point of the campaign soon afterwards as Nick Scott demonstrated some impressive footwork and pace to get past three defenders on his way over the line.
Worcester did mount some form of comeback as Fiji-born former London Welsh winger Josh Drauniniu scored two quick-fire tries in the space of three minutes just before the hour mark.
The 27-year-old showed blistering pace for both scores as he first intercepted a loose pass and streaked away and then sprinted down the centre of the field and shrugged off the challenge of Arscott before touching down. '
Goode converted both tries but the game was up when Chris Jones became the recipient of an astonishing fifth yellow card of the contest and Ross knocked over a late penalty.
Jake Abbott did grab a late consolation try for the Warriors with the final act of the match but it was the London Welsh fans who went home celebrating a fifth top flight victory as they prepare for life in the Championship next season.