Worcester Warriors 30 Brive 20

THIS was just what the doctor ordered for struggling Worcester Warriors.

After six frustrating weeks of getting scant reward for their efforts, Carl Hogg’s battling troops collected their first win of the season.

It was not pretty and considering the amount of errors Worcester made there is plenty of work to do before they return to Aviva Premiership action in two weeks.

But thanks to a well-executed driving maul and clinical finishing from hooker Joe Taufete’e Warriors got the job done in their European Challenge Cup opener against Brive.

When Taufete’e arrived at Sixways in December last year, he declared: “My aim is to score as many tries as I can.”

At the time there was a feeling that maybe the American, who made the transition to rugby in 2011, was still confused on the role of a front rower.

But fast forward 10 months and Taufete’e backed up his statement with three first-half tries in a superb performance.

The rest of Warriors’ forward pack must also receive praise for the way they laid the platform for the USA international to score from close range.

Prop Ethan Waller made an impact in the loose while full-back Chris Pennell and flanker Sam Lewis made strong contributions on a successful day for Worcester.

However, there were fears in the opening stages that it may all go wrong for the home side.

Unlike previous seasons, Warriors decided to select a strong line-up for the competition in a bid to secure a morale-boosting victory.

But this looked like it was going to back-fire as Ben Te’o suffered a blow to his ankle in the first three minutes.

The England centre tried to wriggle his way through before being stopped prop Vivien Devisme and had to be replaced by Jono Lance.

Matters then got worse for Warriors on nine minutes as Guillaume Namy showed some neat footwork to slip through and score the opening try. Matthieu Ugalde added the extras.

But Worcester hit back on the quarter of an hour mark as they secured an attacking lineout and Taufete’e got his first of the afternoon.

After Jamie Shillcock, who missed an earlier penalty, pushed his conversion attempt wide, Brive established a five-point gap when Ugalde slotted home from the tee.

With both teams low on confidence following disappointing starts to the season, the match was full of mistakes.

But crucially Brive made more and Worcester took full advantage with two tries in the final three minutes of the first period.

On both occasions, Taufete’e touched down from catch and drives to complete a memorable treble.

Lance converted the second of those tries and landed a penalty moments after the break as Worcester moved 20-10 in front.

Brive had it all to do, but they reduced their arrears on 43 minutes courtesy of a second try for the impressive Namy, who went over in the corner.

Lance dispatched another three points after the visitors were pinged at the scrum before Worcester clinched the bonus point.

Waller latched onto a loose ball and powered in to score, leaving a simple conversion for Lance.

With Brive’s penalty count continuing to rise, referee Sean Gallagher had enough and sent Louis Martin to the sin-bin.

But it was the away side who had the final say in the clash with replacement prop Julien Brugnaut crashing over.