Rugby’s Greatest Matches: Worcester 30 (59) - Bristol 30 (58)

Cooper Vuna, Ryan Lamb and Tom Biggs celebrate Worcester’s promotion back to the Premiership after bouncing back from England’s second tier during the 2014-15 season

Credit David Davies/PA

English rugby’s second tier of competition, the Championship, often ends up being a bit of a procession for the winning team.

In recent years we have seen Newcastle Falcons, London Irish and Bristol Bears steamroll their way back into the top flight despite being given the odd test here and there. 

For the 2014-15 season, however, this was not the case.

Recently demoted Worcester Warriors would face a huge challenge getting back into the big time due to the looming shape of Bristol, who had recruited Welsh stars such as Ryan Jones, Gavin Henson, Nicky Robinson as well as bright young talent Matthew Morgan. 

Bristol were the sleeping giants of English rugby. Six years sat in the second division had been tough for the West County side with a galling loss to London Welsh, after topping the league, in the play-off final a year previous still front and centre in their minds.   

Warriors, meanwhile, had been handed relegation with just two wins all season in the 2013-14 Premiership. A points difference of -256 showed how much they had come up short and they had lost key players like Euan Murray and Josh Matavesi before the start of their Championship campaign. 

It was set up for an enthralling season, with the two rugby giants ultimately locking horns in a two legged playoff to decide who would return to the promised land.

An arm wrestle for 60 minutes 

Bristol came into the second leg of the play-off final just a point behind Worcester. Although the enthralling match at Ashton Gate a week previous had finished with a last-second win for Warriors, Bristol had won both their previous meetings in the regular season and had lost just once on their way to finishing top of the league.  

Worcester, meanwhile, had given up those losses to Bristol and ended up second best to Jersey in another regular season game, where they were narrowly beaten by the islanders 23-21.

Many considered them lucky to come away with the 28-29 win in the first leg, but a one point margin was barely anything. Surely it wouldn’t matter by the end of the 80 minutes on a warm May evening at Sixways?

A shock looked on the cards early on. Worcester took a 16-6 lead going into half time thanks to talismanic Chris Pennell, capped for England a year previously, collecting a chip from former Saints man Ryan Lamb and finishing well in the corner.

With Nicky Robinson, starting in place of the young Morgan, missing three of his first five attempts off the tee it looked as though all the years of Bristol hurt would continue for yet another season.

An early second-half penalty from the Wales international fly-half kept them within touching distance going into the last 20 minutes however when all hell broke loose.

Bristol hammer home advantage

Jack Tovey puts Bristol ahead for the first time in the match during a 10 minute blitz

Cred: David Davies/PA

Worcester mistakes appeared to have gifted Bristol a place in the Premiership they so dearly wanted. After Ryan Lamb ran into a dead end, almost knocking himself out in the process, Bristol had a sustained stay in the Worcester 22.

When Cooper Vuna cynically killed the ball on the tryline, with the former Rebels winger off the field for 10 minutes, the side now known as the Bears preceded to stick the knife in.

Samoan international Jack Lam snuck over from the resulting line out and with Robinson nailing the extras, Bristol were now back on even terms 16-16 on the night but a point behind on aggregate with Worcester a man down. 

After Jean Baptiste-Bruzellier had the misfortune to kick straight down the throat of replacement fullback Matthew Morgan, named the competitions best player that year, Bristol struck again after he set up an attack with a jinking run.

Huge carries from the likes Marco Mama led to Robinson nailing a pinpoint pass to former Warrior David Lemi who sent Jack Tovey - only starting due to an injury to Gavin Henson - over for a crucial try.

With Robinson finding his kicking boots Bristol were now ahead in the tie for the first time since the first leg and they very much kept the hammer down.

Lemi again made a brilliant bust down the right wing and was only kept out by a covering Baptiste-Bruzellier. It mattered not, with Morgan on hand to collect the offload and waltz under the sticks. 

Conversion nailed. One yellow card and 21 unanswered points had sent the travelling Bristol fans into rapture. The game had been put the game to bed, with the aggregate score now 58-45 in their favour and just 10 minutes left on the clock.

Or so any normal person would think. 

Warriors do the impossible

Poor Cooper Vuna must not have known what he was walking back to into when he returned from the sin bin.

Worcester needed a miracle in the form of two converted tries in the last 10 minutes to save their season. Ryan Lamb made matters harder when he again slipped up, missing an easy penalty kick to touch as the clock ticked over to 73 minutes.

Lamb finally gave his tiring team a chance with another kick to the corner, nudging his team deep into Bristol territory.

After JP Doyle judged Bristol’s Lam had tried to pull down the resulting maul, a penalty try was awarded and, crucially, the flanker would play no further part in the match as he was carded. Five minutes left, 52-58 on aggregate. 

Sixways has never been louder as Worcester chaotically make their way up the pitch. Watching back, it looks more like a game of sevens as they keep the ball alive as much as they can against a Bristol defence fighting to stay in the match.

A turnover looks to give Bristol another opportunity to finish it off, but Tovey knocks it on at the crucial time bang on halfway. Possession changes over yet again.

Scrum Worcester and the ball is shipped wide, with replacement Ben Howard bringing play onto the 22 metre line as Dewi Morris sounds like he’s going to burst on commentary.

A penalty gives Worcester another line-out close in, but it’s brought down legally. Bristol are defending heroically and the physicality is next level. 

Captain Gerrit-Jan van Velze finally finds the gap and is held up by, of all of people, the diminutive Bristol captain Dwayne Peel. JP Doyle, however, deems this illegal and Bristol now have only 13 men on the pitch for the rest of the game. 

“It comes down to one scrum,” says commentator Johnnie Hammond. The scrum is fed and a penalty for collapsing might be given but, with superior numbers, Worcester play it.

Lamb gives a wonderfully flipped pass to Ryan Mills under pressure and all the current-day Wasp has to do is shovel on once more to Pennell, with the club legend promptly scrabbling over. Sixways is in delirium. 

One conversion for the Premiership. Ryan Lamb, who arguably got Worcester into this sorry mess in the first place, takes just one look at the sticks.

He puts his head down and with one swing of a boot, Worcester have completed one of the most unlikely comebacks of all time. 

Contrasting fortunes

A London Welsh side in freefall and significant investment made next season’s campaign a lot easier for Bristol as they saw off Doncaster Knights to reach the top flight for the first time in seven years.

Relegation would follow but under Pat Lam’s leadership the team, they are now a contender for this year’s Premiership title and will expect to make the playoffs at the least. 

Worcester continue to defy expectations and have not been relegated since their return to the top division.

Dean Richards eventually gave way to Alan Solomons and despite being perennially tipped for the drop, Warriors continue to prove people wrong like they did that day in 2015. 

Unlike Bristol, veterans of that campaign can still be seen in the Worcester squad with van Velze, Pennell, Nick Schonert and Niall Annett all still trotting out for Worcester.

Everyone who started for Bristol, aside from Number 8 Mitch Eadie, has since made way for the current Bears Galacticos.

The two-legged format, something that was for so long unique to the competition, will finally see further use in the 2020-21 Champions Cup as the quarters will be decided over two legs.

Anyone doubting the revised setup just needs to look at this game as you will seldom find a match more dramatic.