Pathetic, embarassing, inexcusable: Steve Diamond rips Worcester apart

Worcester’s lead rugby consultant Steve Diamond admitted he felt humiliated after seeing his side crushed 45-10 by Newcastle at Sixways.

The Falcons scored six tries in total while Brett Connon was 100 per cent accurate with the boot as they ended an 11-match winless run in the Premiership to move one place and two points clear of their 12th-placed opponents.

An outbreak of Covid in the Worcester camp had forced the cancellation of the previous week’s fixture at Gloucester, but Diamond refused to use that as an excuse for his side’s woeful display.

“It was a performance that was totally out of character,” he said.

“It was wholly pathetic. Newcastle are a hard-working side and they put us to bed. It was embarrassing and I feel for the Worcester supporter base.

“We were never at the races. We cannot use illness as an excuse because we trained reasonably well over the last few days. There are no excuses. We were completely off centre and did not compete in any area whatsoever.

“We could not hold on to the ball or string two passes together. Our penalty count was probably the lowest of the season because we were never in the action. No one performed well, me included, and I put the onus on myself to get them back up.

“I was going to give them next week off but I might change my mind about that now. It is inexcusable as professionals to perform like that.”

It was Newcastle’s first victory in the Premiership since they defeated Exeter at the beginning of November and director of rugby Dean Richards said the result had been coming.

Converted tries from George McGuigan, Connon and Adam Radwan put them 21-5 in front at half-time, with a Connon penalty and further scores from Louis Schreuder, Trevor Davison and Jamie Blamire completing the rout.

“I am delighted for the boys because they have played well in recent weeks against some top teams and not had much luck,” said Richards.

“We said at half-time that the Worcester players would get a bit of a b*****king and we had to be ready.

“I thought we dealt with the first 10 minutes of the second half really well and we have been threatening to put in a performance like this. It gives us something to build on in the final months of the season.”

Richards was particularly impressed with Radwan’s try, saying: “It is all about adding strings to his bow.

“There were so many good performances and Josh Basham and Freddie Lockwood in the back row again showed how much they have developed. We will enjoy the trip back.”