A sensational first-half performance saw Warriors secure five valuable points as they moved seven points clear of visitors Bristol Rugby at the bottom of the Aviva Premiership table.
The match started in frantic fashion as the referee Wayne Barnes awarded Warriors a penalty try inside the opening two minutes before Ryan Mills added five points with the boot.
Gavin Henson got Bristol off the mark but Francois Houugaard soon gathered a loose Bristol lineout before racing 30 metres to the tryline as Warriors went 17-3 ahead.
Bristol closed the gap through a Jason Woodward try but the hosts were relentless in attack as Will Spencer and Bryce Heem went over to secure a try bonus point before the break.
The scoring died down in the second period as Warriors were forced to defend for long spells.
Heem’s second put Warriors 36-10 ahead before Max Crumpton added a third try for the visitors with 12 minutes remaining.
Tom Varndell looked to launch the most unlikely of comebacks as he raced from just outside his own 22 to touch down after intercepting a loose pass as he cut Warriors’ lead to 36-24.
But Wynand Olivier put the icing on the cake for Warriors as he raced to get on the end of a kick from Mills to score his side’s sixth try and put the game to bed.
Warriors Director of Rugby Gary Gold made four changes to the side which travelled to Northampton Saints as Joe Taufete’e, Chris Vui, Marco Mama and Chris Pennell all returned to the starting line-up.
In front of a raucous Sixways crowd, Warriors immediately looked to take the initiative as they kicked a penalty into touch and piled the pressure on the Bristol defence.
And as the forward pack got to work for a driving maul, the referee Barnes ran underneath the posts to award the hosts a penalty try inside the first two minutes before Dan Tuohy was sent to the sin-bin for the visitors. Mills converted to give Gold’s men a dream start.
Bristol had hardly touched the ball when Warriors were awarded a penalty on the ten-metre line five minutes later. And Mills was able to thrash his kick through the posts as Warriors raced to a 10-0 lead.
The opening ten minutes was nothing short of emphatic from the Warriors point of view as they dominated possession and looked to carve out opportunities to stretch their lead.
But Bristol finally started to find their way into the game after Warriors’ exuberation of the early exchanges had calmed down as Heem was yellow carded and Henson notched his side’s first points of the day with the boot midway through the first-half.
But their joy lasted barely a minute as Warriors soon had their second try of the game courtesy of a fine individual effort from Hougaard.
The South Africa international picked up an overthrown Bristol lineout before racing to dive over the line.
Mills added the extras to put the home side well and truly in the driving seat at 17-3 to the good.
Both sides were looking to play attacking rugby with ball in hand and Bristol soon went over for their first try of the match as Woodward darted through a hole in the home defence to touch down.
Henson converted to reduce Bristol’s deficit to seven points as the entertainment continued.
But it was Warriors who continued to look the better side as they found good territory through Mills’ kicking.
And when the fly-half booted the ball into touch once again, Spencer was on hand to take advantage of the forward pack’s good work to dive over the line for Warriors’ third try of the afternoon.
Mills was enjoying a fine kicking game and converted to take his tally to nine points and increase the host’s lead to 24-10.
And the afternoon just kept getting better and better for Warriors as they secured a bonus point fourth try before the interval.
The score came after more good work from Hougaard as the scrum-half wriggled his way past Varndell before teeing-up a grateful Heem.
That gave Gold’s men a 31-10 lead at the break as the Warriors faithful found themselves in dreamland.
Warriors looked to pick up from where they left off after the break as they launched yet another assault on the Bristol tryline in the opening minutes.
But Bristol survived and the sides soon went toe-to-toe in search of the next points.
Bristol were enjoying the majority of possession as they camped in the Warriors half but the home defence were in magnificent form as they repelled the visitors time and time again.
And when the opportunity arose at the other end of the pitch, Warriors were able to add a fifth try as Josh Adams set-up Heem, who raced in to touch down.
That score, against the run of play, gave Warriors an unassailable lead of 36-10 as time started to run out for Bristol.
However, the visitors kept the game alive as Crumpton’s effort from close range gave them hope.
And Bristol grabbed a third try with seven minutes remaining as Varndell intercepted a loose pass before racing the length of the pitch to touch down underneath the posts.
But the day belonged to Warriors as Olivier added a sixth to wrap the game up for the hosts.
Warriors| 15 Chris Pennell (Humphreys 60), 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Jackson Willison (Lamb 77), 11 Josh Adams, 10 Ryan Mills, 9 Francois Hougaard, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin (Bower 59), 2 Joe Taufete’e, 3 Nick Schonert (Alo 71), 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (C) (Cavubati 68), 5 Will Spencer, 6 Chris Vui, Sam Lewis (Potgieter 65), 8 Marco Mama
Replacements |16 Matti Williams, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Biyi Alo, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Dewald Potgieter, 21 Luke Baldwin, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Perry Humphreys
Timeline
2m | Penalty try 5-0
2m| Mills con 7-0
7m | Mills pen 10-0
18m | Henson pen 10-3
19m | Hougaard try 15-3
20m | Mills con 17-3
25m | Woodward try 17-8
26m | Henson con 17-10
33m | Spencer try 22-10
34m | Mills con 24-10
38m | Heem try 29-10
39m | Mills 31-10
63m | Heem try 36-10
67m | Crumpton try 36-15
68m | Woodward con 36-17
73m | Varndell try 36-22
74m | Wallace con 36-24
78m | Olivier try 41-24