WHATEVER the opposition winning rugby matches does not appear to be getting any easily for Worcester Warriors.
And so it proved on Thursday night as French Top 14 basement boys Biarritz clinched a 19-15 victory at the death.
Man-of-the-moment Chris Pennell looked like he had landed the match-winning score with a coolly dispatched penalty in the final eight minutes.
But with less than 30 seconds left on the clock Tanguy Molcardj crashed over to condemn Warriors to yet another home defeat as well as denting their hopes of progressing in the Amlin Challenge Cup this season.
Director of rugby Dean Ryan said he was “desperately disappointed” at the manner of the defeat as Worcester once again failed to close out a winning position.
“We should have edged it tonight, but those last five or ten minutes are causing us huge problems,” Ryan said.
“We are not competitive at that point, we lose our heads a little bit and psychologically it is something which is weighing heavily on our shoulders.
“I think we have done everything to grow in this tournament, but we have just not got the win which would be a huge confidence boost for us.”
With both sides languishing at the foot of their nation’s top-flight league tables, the clash was set to be an edgy encounter.
And the sighs and groans of frustrations around a barely-half filled Sixways said it all as Warriors and Biarritz made errors in the opening stages.
The match was desperately in need of something to spark it into life and it came by the way of Dean Hammond on the 25th minute.
The live-wire wing brushed off the tackle of Aled Brew to power home for a well-executed try, which Pennell failed to convert.
Worcester should have been further in front moments later as Alex Grove made a superb run down the middle before offloading to Paul Warwick, who ran straight into traffic.
But Grove quickly learnt from his lesson in Warriors’ next attack as he instead opted to keep hold of it and it paid off, with the Scot crossing in the corner.
Pennell also made amends following his earlier misses with a superb conversation from the touchline. This seemed to give Worcester a comfortable 12-0 lead at the break. But in the final moments of the half the hosts found themselves on the back foot and a man down when prop Ofa Faina’anuku saw yellow, which opened up the chance for Taku Ngwenya to score. Julien Peyrelongue added the extras to close the gap at 12-7.
Despite the blow, Worcester began the second half brightly and started to control proceedings when Fabien Barcella replaced Faina’anuku in the sin-bin.
But despite the best efforts of Pennell and skipper Jonathan Thomas to carry their side up-field Warriors could not add to their tally.
And, sure enough, Biarritz made them pay for it as Yann Lesgourgues pounced on a loose ball before rounding Pennell to go in under the posts, which Peyrelongue converted.
The visitors almost extended their lead, but fortunately for Ryan’s men Paul Couet-Lannes’ try was ruled out for a forward pass.
This also looked like it was going to be the defining moment in the contest as Pennell landed a late penalty in reply.
However, it was not meant to be for Warriors as Ueleni Fono fed Molcardji who barged his way over for a last-gasp try.