Doubts over the referee, first thinking it was Fox who did not have a good match when we travelled to Leeds, then finding it was to be Debney. Worcester with some justification felt they were denied by him on their visit to Newcastle where he disallowed three tries. The fans, I was soon to find out had neither forgiven nor forgotten.

Our hostess, “Warrior till she dies” greeted us with hospitality which was replicated by all the home fans we met. After a morsel to line the stomach we headed to an Austrian bar and then to a hostelry near the shuttle bus. I was beginning to realise our boys had a better chance of turning over the opposition on the pitch than I did against the fans in the drinking stakes at the bar.

The bus is included in the price of the season ticket at Worcester (LI & Reading busses please note) It was unlikely that two green monks would pass as Worcester ST holders so I reached for some change, only to be waived on by a beaming bus driver. Friendly banter on the bus (we were the only visitors) was extended by the dire traffic conditions that plague the route to Sixways on Friday nights. Whilst not quite concerned that we would miss the kick off, the phrase “come on, we waste good drinking time” sprang to mind. The impression was not helped by long queues at the turnstile since all tickets needed to be checked by hand.

This was my first visit to Sixways and once inside the ground I was impressed by the atmosphere. There was some amusement at the sight of a Mad Monk with his OSB novice accompanied by a Mexican and Scooby Doo. The two ladies in our group gratefully accepted our offer of seats behind the posts whilst the motley crew favoured of the standing area on the West Stand conveniently near the bar. In this part of the stadium two monks were the only visitors. Indeed it was only when the match started I spotted other travelling fans over on the East stand. Another question for the fixture organisers: why can’t Friday night fixtures be limited to matches between local clubs? I’m sure I’m not the only one who remembers the team travelling all the way to Newcastle in driving rain on a Friday to find that they almost outnumbered their supporters.

To quote the Guardian reporter, the Warriors “seem to be adopting a precarious policy of relying on the ineptitude of their rivals in order to survive.”

Luckily for the Exiles our team were not about to put on a display of ineptitude, but in my humble opinion did not display the same brilliance they had against Leicester a few days ago. Of course you can only play the team in front of you, but for this frazzled supporter, winning 11 – 12 when the opposition has a long final period of possession after the clock has run down is taking “good enough rugby” too far!Last weekend Worcester conceded a hatful of penalties against Quins, many of which went unpunished. This prompted them to call in referee Wayne Barnes mid week. Not that it did much good. Early on they conceded three kickable penalties. The first two were missed by Delon who passed kicking duties to Peter Hewat who slotted the third.

Worcester were not without opportunities, they were getting plenty of ball and then knocking on. Twice centre Sam Tuitupou was the culprit then Rico Gear, with no-one in front of him, handed us another get-out-of-jail-free card. It seemed to be frustration that led to their captain, Pat Sanderson, to back-chat the ref. The ensuing penalty enabled Peter to increase the lead to 0-6. Whether or not this was the Worcester wake-up call or not I don’t know, but they soon hit back with a kick to touch, drive from the lineout, pass out along the line to Miles Benjamin who found the gap before a long pass to Rico Gear who went over in the corner. Luckily for Irish the try was not converted. Lucky too that 9 & 10 are definite weak links in the Worcester squad making it difficult for them to release talented players like Rico.

This was the only time Worcester threatened, they were soon back to conceding penalties in kickable positions, and Peter kicked a third penalty for a 5-9 interval lead.

It was encouraging to see the team come out early for the second half. This seems to be a deliberate ploy to show they are ‘up for it’ and keen to avoid second half blues. This certainly seemed to be the case at the restart and we were soon rewarded by a drop goal from the full-back. The ref was not playing advantage so it was not a ‘shot to nothing’ and there seemed to be options right.  A situation where a missed drop goal would be the wrong decision, but all is forgiven if it goes over. Fortunately Peter did not let us down. Soon afterwards Irish fans were set again on an agonising second half. Loki Crichton responded almost immediately with a penalty that closed the gap back to 8-12.

There were a number of other chances, but each time Crichton was found wanting. This rather gives the lie to Worcester claims that Debney was on our payroll. The truth is that their kicking was abysmal If Shane Drahm had been brought on earlier it may have been different but in the last 20 minutes he only managed to kick one penalty from a distance missed by Crichton only a minute before. With the score at 11 -12 we then entered the only too familiar final period where we managed to hold on. As the clock reached zero Worcester were in possession and playing in the last chance saloon. For what seemed like an age they played phase after phase before finally conceding a scrum and with it the match. 

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