EVEN before director of rugby Dean Ryan gave his sombre assessment of Worcester Warriors’ 22-9 defeat at London Irish, the frustration etched on his face said it all.
Just when it appeared Warriors were beginning to turn a corner following several battling displays, they suffered one of their most disappointing defeats of the season.
Full back James O’Connor scored all the points for London Irish, including a decisive second half try, to condemn Worcester to a 12th straight loss which leaves them 11 points adrift at the foot of the table.
And Ryan could not hide his disappointment at the way his players performed in what was a crucial clash in their bid for survival.
“That was the Worcester of six or seven weeks ago,” he said. “We have worked really hard to clean up our act, but that didn’t come through today which is really disappointing – and at such a crucial time as well.
“We can’t hide from how important that game was today and I don’t think we managed that well and I don’t think we coped with the pressure London Irish’s pack was putting us under.”
With the rain lashing down, the contest was likely to be decided on which set of forwards finished the stronger. Discipline was also set to play a key role but almost immediately Warriors were penalised and O’Connor fired wide.
The Aussie was able to quickly make amends as he slotted home a penalty before Chris Pennell levelled the scores.
And there was nothing much between the two in the opening stages as they slugged it out, while Paul Warwick provided something to savour with jinking run from deep.
Pennell looked to be holding the edge in the kicking department as his penalty from distance to nudged Worcester in front.
But with a minute remaining in the first half, O’Connor landed a kick after Warriors buckled in the scrum.
The equalising score left the tie nicely poised at the break, but instead of pushing on, Worcester spent the opening ten minutes of the second period going backwards.
Warriors were struggling to come to terms with the Exiles’ drive as they conceded two penalties which O’Connor duly dispatched.
Pennell came within a whisker of closing the gap with an audacious long-distance penalty attempt, but the visitors’ hopes of getting back into the encounter suffered a blow when Leonardo Senatore saw yellow.
And the home side took full advantage as O’Connor knocked over the resultant penalty before scoring what proved to be the match-winning try on the hour mark.
After pinning Warriors in the corner, the ball was moved wide and Shane Geraghty offloaded to O’Connor who eased over. The full back added the extras to take his tally to 22.
Worcester soon responded with a Pennell penalty, but the finishing touch when they closed in on the whitewash continued to elude them.
Irish were reduced to 14 men for the final ten minutes when Jamie Hagan was sent to the sin-bin as Warriors piled forward. But they could not even clinch a losing bonus point, which could prove pivotal when the season draws to a close.