Porous defence costs Warriors another win
WARRIORS coach Sam Vesty blamed “criminal” lapses in defence as his side lost another European clash.
The Warriors are now winless in Europe since last November, while 14-man Brive picked up their first away win in nine Challenge Cup matches. The result means Pool 3 is topped by Moscow side Enisei-STM, with Worcester having just two losing bonus points to show for their labours.
Key backs Chris Pennell and Ben Te’o both came back from injury to play an assured 80 minutes, with full-back Pennell looking particularly sharp.
Replacement fly-half Jamie Shillcock played with pace and confidence after coming on for Tom Heathcote, with play delayed for 10 minutes early in the second half after the latter was knocked unconscious following a tackle by Poutasi Luafuta.
Scotland international Heathcote was stretchered off and the Sixways crowd was upset by referee Gary Conway’s decision not to penalise flanker Luafuta for a dangerous challenge.
“I’ve spoken to Tom and he is compos mentis but he obviously needs to be looked at,” said attack coach Vesty. “A shoulder caught his head in a nastylooking collision.”
While content with the endeavour showed by his young side, Vesty was frustrated by his team gifting an early ten-point lead to the Top 14 side, with Taku Ngwenya dotting down and Thomas Laranjeira kicking five points.
“It was frustrating to give them that lead,” said Vesty. “Do that and you make it very hard for yourself. It was criminal soft defence.
“We tried to run them around and tire them out and that worked a bit, and we did well to get back into the battle. They brought their power game and it was difficult. Then we had a couple of lapses of concentration in the second half.”
Reflecting on the opening fortnight of the European campaign, Vesty added: “I’m not happy. We created enough opportunities so to come away with just two points is very disappointing, we need to be better than that.”
Brive had early superiority in the scrum as Worcester struggled to get a foothold in the game, but scrum-half Luke Baldwin’s pace and quick tap-penalties eventually helped put them on the front foot.
Worcester were awarded a penalty try following a well-engineered lineout drive, and a Heathcote penalty early in the second half tied the game at 10-10.
Te’o, playing his first game since suffering concussion against Gloucester in September, finished off a move instigated by Shillcock, but Brive struck back immediately through a try by skipper Said Hireche and a penalty by replacement outside-half Nicolas Bezy.
Brive had lock Jan Uys sin-binned with 10 minutes to go but the numerical disadvantage didn’t harm them. The French latched onto scrappy lineout ball and replacement hooker Thomas Acquier rumbled over from short range.
Brive had an eight-point lead but Warriors played on until the death, with wing Andy Short finishing off a move down the right flank. Shillcock landed his second touch-line conversion, but Worcester had to again settle for a losing bonus point.