The ruthless Oxford Cavaliers really put the Worcestershire Saints to the sword with a buccaneering 64-8 victory in their Summer RL Conference clash at Oxford Rugby Club.
Saints struggled to cope with the punishing drives of the Oxford pack, ably led by props Mark Bell and Graham Truman.
Behind them Gerry Rushworth was again outstanding with hooker Wayne Williams and man-of-the-match Simon Hicks providing good distribution to the halves.
Oxford played expansive, exciting rugby, scoring 13 tries in this Central South clash. The odds were stacked against the Saints as early as the tenth minute, by which time centre Steve Lacey had already run in two tries down the left
The Worcester flanks were pierced repeatedly with great long passes from halfbacks Randall and Fairhurst, giving the three-quarters ample running opportunities.
Gary Doody mimicked Lacey with a swift brace of his own, and at halftime Cavaliers had built up an unassailable 32-4 lead.
Worcester rallied briefly in the second half, but they visibly wilted in the heat and the Cavaliers tore through almost at will with Fairhurst, Randall and Rushworth all making breaks to put over supporting players.
Great backing up brought two tries for Wayne Williams and Alistair McClennan. Indeed, the wingers Simon Yarrow and McClennan were almost as large as the forwards and their physical contribution helped to soften up the opposition.
Saints grabbed a consolation score in each half - a try for full back Richard Whitehouse after a 40m run and one for loose forward Paul Barnett.
Oxford, meanwhile, are now playing quality rugby and travel to Coventry next week witn confidence.
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