Warriors Head Coach Jonathan Thomas was proud of his players after their heroic performance in Saturday’s 21-17 defeat by reigning Gallagher Premiership and European champions Exeter Chiefs at Sixways.
Warriors went 14 points down in as many minutes at the start of the match but thereafter they dominated the contest and could so easily have earned four points rather than one.
“We have had two weeks to build up this game. We have redefined a little bit what we want to be as a club,” Thomas said.
“We talked about, in what is a difficult time in the world with COVID and everything, having the ability to inspire our community and our supporters by trying to topple the champions. We believed we could do it and we believedwe could do it right to the death.
“It was not through a lack of intent or work rate or effort. The boys were outstanding and I am really proud of the players.
“One of things we have spoken about as a team in the last few weeks is moments of adversity or when you make errors Great teams are not defined by your errors but how you respond to your errors.
“That’s why I am so proud of the team today. When we went 14-0 down we could have maybe imploded a little bit there but the players kept going and came back into the game and showed a lot of maturity in those moments and their effort could have won it.
“There’s a lot of growth for us as a team and we will take the learnings from this.
“At the moment we are disappointed because it was one of those ‘could have, should have’ games. But, as I have said, I am so proud of the effort the players put in.
“Ultimately, the direction we want to go is to be win. We want to be winners and that’s what we aim to do next week.”
Warriors will check on the fitness of fly-half Billy Searle, who suffered a nasty gash on a thigh, before next Saturday’s trip to Welford Road to face Leicester Tigers.