Worcester Warriors suffered another dose of capital punishment as they crashed to a 36-15 defeat at the hands of Harlequins at The Stoop.
Wing Rico Gear and James Brown grabbed tries for the visitors but it was another day of bitter disappointment for Worcester as just six days after losing across London at Saracens they again suffered.
Mike Ruddock’s men enjoyed plenty of possession and territory but failed to break down a resolute Quins side as a high penalty count cost them.
The Director of Rugby had called for a big response from his players and that looked likely to happen as centre Sam Tuitupou produced two trademark bone crunching hits in the opening minute to set the tone.
Warriors were unloading with some big hits as they hunted possession before a penalty saw the hosts pin Worcester back only for Drew Hickey to steal the lineout.
Quins made a clean break through Will Skinner but his attempted pass out wide to Tom Williams was knocked on by Rico Gear as he sensed an interception.
A harshly adjudged stamp from the recalled Tony Windo, making his first start since October, handed the home side the perfect chance to break the deadlock but Adrian Jarvis hooked his penalty against the upright when he should have done better.
Both teams traded control of the ball before a clean break saw Skinner again show a clean pair of heels and this time the flanker chipped ahead over last man Thinus Delport and collect before crashing over the line. Jarvis added the easy extras for a 7-0 lead.
Worcester had made little impression in the game as an attacking force as they were repeatedly knocked back by a strong Quins defensive wall.
The visitors were guilty of kicking away possession and poor distribution in the opening quarter before Quins again chipped over the top and Miles Benjamin was forced to scamper back and boot to touch.
A long lineout found scrum half Danny Care and he spread the play wide with numbers right allowing Wales international Hal Luscombe to dash over in the corner and give complete control to the home side. Jarvis failed with the conversion.
Worcester responded to the body blow of two early tries with Gear making his mark with a winding run before Aleki Lutui and Craig Gillies took the ball on. Quins were hit for not rolling away and James Brown slotted the first points with a penalty.
Quins twice handed back the ball with some woeful kicking to touch that went out on the full and Warriors made them pay.
Brown set Tuitupou free in midfield and he glided past three men before offloading to Gear who expertly finished with one hand as Ugo Monye looked to put him in touch. Brown was just wide with a difficult conversion.
Warriors were dealt a blow seconds afterwards when skipper Pat Sanderson was forced off and was replaced by Netani Talei but better news was the form of Jarvis who badly pulled another penalty from in front of the posts after the visitors were penalised in the scrum.
Worcester again made good ground after turning over the ball and again it was Tuitupou and Gear who combined to make valuable yards.
Wing Benjamin saved a certain try on 35 minutes with a stunning tackle on Mike Brown after Care and Williams had joined forces to set the full back clear and Jarvis again missed a very kickable penalty as Warriors lived dangerously.
Just before the break, Warriors were hit for playing the ball on the floor and Quins kicked to the corner only to make a real mess of the lineout before the half-time whistle sounded.
Warriors started the second half in fine fashion as they put Quins under mounting pressure with several passages of play and narrowly failed to convert an overlap out left as they tried to spin the ball through hands.
Next it was Hickey who sprinted clear in midfield but after making 40 metres the flanker was taken down and Ryan Powell just failed to get quick ball away to take full advantage of the opening.
Failure to take the chances and convert territory looked to come back to haunt Warriors but Jarvis made a total mess of another penalty on 52 minutes as it sailed badly wide. Seconds later another penalty was awarded and Mike Brown took over the kicking duties only to repeat the feat.
Quins were now in the clear ascendancy and were keeping the ball alive at all costs before kicking to the corner. Hickey was sent to the sin bin for coming in at the side and slowing down play as Worcester vainly tried to hold on before Jarvis finally rediscovered his kicking game to slot a penalty.
A stray pass from Quins nearly set Gear free down the right wing but moments later Warriors fell off tackles and Williams kicked ahead to heap real pressure on Warriors. The ball was eventually spun wide and Steve So’oialo flew over. Jarvis added the conversion to put Quins in the clear.
Things went from bad to worse for Warriors as Tuitupou was sent to the sin bin before Tosh Masson scored a late bonus point try.
Brown hit back with a charge down try but Quins went straight up the other end with Williams capping a miserable afternoon for the visitors.
Timeline:
12m Skinner t Jarvis c 7-0
17m Luscombe t 12-0
19m Brown p 12-3
25m Gear t 12-8
62m Jarvis p 15-8
67m So’oialo t Jarvis c 22-8
77m Masson t Jarvis c 29-8
78m Brown t Brown c 29-15
80m Williams t Jarvis c 36-15
Warriors: 01 Tony Windo (Mullan 64), 02 Aleki Lutui, 03 Tevita Taumoepeau (Ruwers 75), 04 Greg Rawlinson, 05 Craig Gillies, 06 Drew Hickey, 07 Pat Sanderson (c) (Talei 26 (Bowley 69), 08 Kai Horstmann, 09 Ryan Powell (M Powell 69), 10 James Brown, 11 Miles Benjamin, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 14 Rico Gear, 15 Thinus Delport (Garvey 71)
Replacements: 16 Shaun Ruwers, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Will Bowley, 19 Netani Talei, 20 Matt Powell, 21 Loki Crichton, 22 Marcel Garvey