IT WAS another sorry Saturday afternoon for Worcester Warriors as they were hammered 40-6 by a ruthless Exeter Chiefs side at Sandy Park.
Last week’s dismal first half showing at home to Sale Sharks was followed by an equally disappointing second half performance at Exeter as they racked up 26 unanswered points in the closing 40 minutes.
The six-try defeat was Warriors’ sixth straight loss in the Aviva Premiership this season, while other results this weekend have left the club eight points adrift at the foot of the table.
But director of rugby Dean Ryan defended his team’s display in Devon despite slumping to their heaviest defeat of the campaign.
“I couldn’t ask for any more from the team today. I thought they made a massive emotional effort,” Ryan said.
“If you’re not at the same stage as the opposition, it will ultimately tell. All we can do is keep working at things and trying to get better.
“The result is a reflection of a side being better than us. They got more on collision than we did. The back five of their scrum were big and active and that gave them a huge amount of work-rate.
“It allowed them to protect their front row a little bit. And it was very difficult to get over the gain-line.”
Not for the first time this season, Warriors struggled to match their opposite numbers in the early stages as Exeter stormed into 14-3 lead.
Ben White opened the scoring with a try before Exeter added a second on the tenth minute mark when Dave Lewis fed the ball to captain Dean Mumm to score under the posts, which Gareth Steenson converted.
Either side of the two tries, Warriors managed to respond with a penalty from Ignacio Mieres, but the 11-point deficit still gave the visitors a mountain to climb against their in-form opponents.
Worcester did not help themselves as well as they failed to convert pressure into points – squandering a number of try-scoring opportunities.
Mieres closed the gap with a penalty six minutes before the interval. but they could not secure the try their attacking intent deserved as Exeter held on until half-time.
With the wind now behind the hosts’ backs, Worcester were unable to contain the Chiefs despite the best efforts of Chris Pennell who made a try-saving tackle to deny Matt Jess.
But Rob Baxter’s men soon added to their tally when White pounced on Jonny Arr’s charged down kick to score his second of the afternoon, which Steenson converted.
The match was slipping away from Warriors as Exeter continued to pepper the visitors’ line before Phil Dollman went over after impressive work from Tom Johnson.
Worcester were struggling to get out of their own half as the Chiefs piled on the pressure. And they inflicted further misery on winless Warriors with two tries in the final ten minutes as Damian Welch crossed the whitewash before Haydn Thomas scored late on.