That was tough admits Heaney

WORCESTER scrum-half Michael Heaney, who made his first start in the Premiership in the absence of knee injury absentee, Francois Hougaard, conceded it had been a tough afternoon for his side.

He said: “It was a difficult day at the office and we didn’t hold on to the ball for long enough as they are a big heavy force.

“We got ourselves back into the game by half-time but we struggled to contain them afterwards although we showed a bit of fight at the tail end of the game.

“We haven’t been able to back up our big performances but we are working on improving that.”

Worcester’s director of rugby Alan Solomons had no complaints about the result. He said: “We were outmuscled and they were on top for most of the game with Chris Pennell’s yellow card making no difference to the result.”

“The physicality of their pack was crucial and they dominated the collisions today but we could still have played better.”

“I’m very pleased that we didn’t throw in the towel as we got one try at the end and should have had another but we were too frenetic and anxious.”