Premiership: Worcester 32-31 Wasps - Warriors hold on for Midlands derby victory

Worcester scrum-half Gareth Simpson got the first of his side's four tries in their rare home win over Wasps

Worcester Warriors beat Wasps for the first time since the Coventry side moved to the Midlands as they hung on for a bonus-point victory at Sixways.

Warriors looked well on course against their injury-ravaged opponents when Will Chudley's try followed first-half efforts from Gareth Simpson, Duhan van der Merwe and Ted Hill.

A late try from flanker Tom Willis gave Wasps a chance to snatch it.

But experienced Jimmy Gopperth failed with his tough touchline conversion.

Wasps, whose other tries came from hooker Dan Frost, one in each half, New Zealander Vaea Fifita and scrum-half Sam Wolstenholme, came away with two bonus points.

But, in their first game since the arrival of Steve Diamond as lead consultant, it was still a first Premiership victory for Worcester over their rivals since 2013 - after a run of 14 straight Wasps wins.

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The visitors, decimated by an 18-man injury list, were offered a brief man advantage when Warriors winger Melani Nanai was sin-binned in the second minute for a rash challenge on Josh Bassett.

But basic errors allowed two home tries in the opening 22 minutes, the first from scrum-half Simpson, when Marcus Watson's forward pass to Brad Shields went to ground.

Then Scotland and British and Irish Lions winger Van Der Merwe, who had delivered the final pass for the first try, scored the second, running in from 60 metres after Will Porter's pass had gone loose.

In between, Elliott Stooke had set up fellow lock Fifita to score Wasps' opening try and they got a second when Frost scored after a delayed pass from Gopperth.

Will Chudley, the second Warriors scrum-half of the day to score, went over for the try which earned their third bonus-point win of the season

But two Fin Smith penalties and a try for club captain Hill from Graham Kitchener's pass earned the hosts a 25-14 half-time advantage.

Worcester then claimed their bonus-point when Joe Batley and England centre Ollie Lawrence came off the bench to set up fellow replacement Chudley.

But, from 18 points down with 30 minutes left, following fit-again flanker Alfie Barbeary's introduction, Wasps cut the gap to six points with tries from Frost and replacement scrum-half Wolstenholme, just after home lock Kitchener's yellow card.

Then Bassett kept the ball alive as he was being tackled into touch for Willis to score in the left corner but the wind took hold of Gopperth's kick which would have won it.

What's next?

Both sides now face two weekends of European action, Worcester in the Challenge Cup, Wasps in the Champions Cup, before the Premiership resumes on 26 December.

The two sides both now have 19 points each, although Worcester, who climb from 12th to 10th thanks to their third bonus-point win, have played a game more than ninth-placed Wasps.

Worcester head coach Jonathan Thomas:

"What pleased me most about this win was the way we dug in against the wind in the second half. It was a real collective effort.

"It is important that we keep winning matches and the European Challenge Cup is a competition we are taking seriously."

Worcester club captain Ted Hill:

"We are putting some results together. That breeds confidence. We know we still have a lot to do, but we are moving in the right direction.

"People have a perception about us when it comes to the league and results like this will change it. It's a reflection of all the hard work everyone is putting in."

Wasps head coach Lee Blackett:

"We gave ourselves a lot to do and against Gloucester. We came close to winning both matches and taking 10 points rather than four, but we have to look at how we are starting matches."

Wasps hooker Dan Frost:

"We had problems in the scrum and overall we were not good enough. We cannot sulk but have to wake up and make it better."

Worcester Warriors: Shillcock; Nanai, Venter (co-capt), Beck, van der Merwe; Smith, Simpson; Sutherland, Annett, Judge, Garvey, G Kitchener, Hatherell, Hill (co-capt), Vailanu.

Replacements: Baldwin, Waller, Tyack, Batley, Lewis, Chudley, Searle, Lawrence.

Sin bin: Nanai (2) Kitchener (64)

Wasps: Watson; Kibirige, McHenry, Gopperth, Bassett; Umaga, Porter; Hislop, Frost, Toomaga-Allen, Fifita, Stooke, Shields (capt), Young, T Willis.

Replacements: Oghre, West, Millar-Mills, de Chaves, Carr, Barbeary, Wolstenholme, Minozzi.

Referee: Tom Foley.

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