Head coach Jonathan Thomas: 'Worcester need to be more clinical'

Worcester head coach Jonathan Thomas bemoaned his side’s failure to take their chances as they fell to a 27-5 defeat against Bristol at Ashton Gate.

It was another loss on the road for Warriors, who have not been successful away from Sixways in any competition since September 2020.

Despite having the lion’s share of possession and territory, Warriors blew a host of opportunities and could record only a single try from Noah Heward, while potent Bristol scored four.

Sam Jeffries and Tom Whiteley added to a double from Toby Fricker, with Callum Sheedy kicking a penalty and two conversions.

Thomas said: “The final scoreline wasn’t the correct margin between the sides as the only difference was that they took their opportunities and we didn’t as we needed to be more clinical.

“In the first 20 minutes we left 13 points out there by not kicking a couple of penalties with a forward pass ruining a simple run-in and it’s vital you take your chances in the Premiership, especially away from home.

“Last week in our win over Sale we took them, and that gave us the platform to go on and win the match.

“Three of their four tries were soft ones as they were opportunist scores with us coughing up possession to give them those chances.

“We have played eight games so far and have only won two of them but that doesn’t reflect the quality of our side.

“We knew there would be challenges with new coaches coming in and then being hit with injuries, so it’s been a curve ball in terms of adversity.

“However, we are not offering that as an excuse as we know we have to improve.”

Despite picking up a bonus-point victory, Bristol’s director of rugby Pat Lam accepted it was not a vintage performance from the Bears.

He said: “I’m happy to take the five points and move on but it was a scrappy game.

“We went 3-0 up and then didn’t see the ball for 25 minutes, but we defended very well with our backs holding them up in the tackle and winning turnovers.

“We are seeing bits and pieces and good moments in the game but we are not perfect right now but don’t need to be, although we will need to be better in the future.

“It’s good that because of injuries, different players are coming in and getting opportunities which will only benefit us in the long run.”