Head Coach Richard Hill warned his Worcester Warriors they could not afford a repeat of the performance served up in defeat against Cornish Pirates when they return to the Aviva Premiership.
Worcester were edged out 24-21 by RFU Championship club Cornish Pirates in the final game of the pre-season schedule –just a few months after the two teams had met in the promotion showdown back to the top-flight.
Hill admitted he was left disappointed with the team for the manner in which they slumped to defeat, but insisted the errors would be cut out come the big kick-off with Sale Sharks next Saturday (September 3).
“It was disappointing and we took a step back,” said Hill. “We have been moving along quite nicely and have played well, the group was really putting some good passages of attacking play together and defensively we looked much more intense and aggressive.
“But against the Pirates we lacked the normal intensity that you need for the Premiership and we were back to where we were at our worst in the Championship. We can’t afford to spill as much ball as that in the Premiership.
“I expected better and a good performance to end pre-season on a high so we are very disappointed not to have done that.
“A defeat means little going into next week,” he added. “It is more about trying to find out about players and get your strategy together. In the three games so far we gave done that, today I don’t take too much, there were not too many highlights for me.
“We had enough possession and the first half was all Warriors really, but through silly handling errors we failed to finish them off and we lacked control.
“Up until today we have been very clinical and the handling had been good. But we failed to put the points on the board and paid the penalty.”