Josh Drauniniu admitted he was feeling mixed emotions after making his 50th Warriors appearance against Exeter Chiefs at Sixways.
Warriors fought back from 21-3 down to earn two bonus points against the Chiefs and Drauniniu insists it was a proud moment for him to be part of a valiant display, despite ending up on the losing side.
He said: “For me personally, it was one of the proudest moments of my life to make my 50th appearance and also to be part of a side that showed guts to come back like that.
“It was a great display in the second-half and it is just so frustrating not to come away with the win.”
At 28-15 down at the break, Drauniniu confirmed a half-time briefing from Director of Rugby Dean Ryan was the catalyst for their dominance in the second period.
He continued: “We’re tight as a team. Dean told us where we were going wrong and we responded well.
“We assaulted their lines and we gave our all to try and turn it around. It was just unfortunate we couldn’t get the win.”
The powerful Fijian was a constant threat to the Chiefs defence, but he paid tribute to fellow winger David Lemi, who conjured up two moments of brilliance to score a brace for Warriors.
He added: “David Lemi was outstanding today and showed how lethal he is.
“He took his tries really well and looked dangerous every time he had the ball.”
In the final play of the game, Drauniniu almost latched on to a cross-field kick from Ryan Lamb with acres of space in front of him, but couldn’t quite retrieve the ball and Exeter held on for the win.
He concluded: “I kept showing Lamby my hands. When he kicked it all I was thinking was: “This is my try.”
“But it bounced off my hands and it was just so frustrating.
“Now we need to take another good performance down to The Rec next weekend. We will be confident off the back of this and we still believe we can stay up.”