WARRIORS.

7 David – showed great ability under the high ball, neat footwork to wriggle through tackles and took his try well only to suffer a shoulder injury when grounding the ball.

8 HOWE – pressed his claims for a new deal as the wing produced a fine solo score before crossing again at the death. He also sprinted back to deny Gallagher a try. My man of the match.

6 Olivier – captaining the side, the ex-Springbok carried hard and even lost his shirt as Saracens’ tacklers tried everything to stop him. He also assisted for Howe’s second.

7 Butler – slipped off the odd tackle but is a classy operator in attack as he fed David for his second-half score and his neat offload sent van Breda clean through in the lead-up to Howe’s late touchdown.

6 Hammond – was guilty of knocking on van Breda’s chip that denied David a try at the end of the first half and did not see as much of the ball as Howe.

6 van Breda – his decision to go for a grubber kick backfired as it was charged down and Sarries scored from it but made up for his early error with strong running.

7 Arr – a tidy display from the scrum-half whose kicking game ensured Worcester stayed in Sarries’ half and made more metres than any other player in the opening period.

6 Waller - had an indifferent evening at scrum-time as Saracens got the edge but was willing to get his hands on the ball before leaving the field in some discomfort.

6 Annett – apart from one overthrow the hooker was pretty solid at the lineout, even throwing in two short ones and carried pretty well until he suffered a blow to his shoulder.

5 Milasinovich – a frustrating night for the prop who was pinged on a couple of occasions at the scrum which struggled and was penalised in open play too.

6 Barry – was partly at fault for Saracens’ first try as he failed to retrieve the ball and Whiteley pounced to score but made a steal at the lineout which ran well and contributed in attack.

5 Bresler – drafted into the side after Phillips pulled out through injury the lock did his job in the set-piece but had a quiet night otherwise as he made way for young forward Dodd.

6 Williams – struggled to assert his authority in the first half as Sarries got on top at the breakdown but looked good in the loose and his break at the start of the second period almost led to a try.

7 Kirwan – recalled from his loan spell at Ealing the flanker made mistakes but put in a massive shift and his long-busting efforts were rewarded when he played a part in Worcester’s final try.

6 Cox – was one of Warriors’ chief ball-carriers as he came within a whisker of scoring. He also showed great sportsmanship to stop play to allow an injured Sarries player to receive treatment.

Replacements: Miller 6 (Annett 39), Weir 7 (David 50), Kerrod 5 (Milasinovich 51), Dodd 5 (Bresler 58), Heaney (Arr 68), Black (Waller 73), Hearle (Hammond 76). Not used: Mama.

Attendance: 5,115.

Referee: C Ridley.

Saracens: Gallagher (Hakalo 67); Crossdale, Lozowski (Vunipola 67), Morris, Segun; Malins, Whiteley (Taylor 64); Barrington (Adams-Hale 51), Woolstencroft (Tolofua 51), Koch (Walker 51), Day (Skelton 54), Isiekwe, Clark, Reffell, Earl (Valianu 60).

RUN OF PLAY

0-5: Whiteley try, 6mins.

0-7: Lozowski conv, 7mins.

0-12: Segun try, 10mins.

0-15: Lozowski penalty, 28mins.

0-18: Lozowski penalty, 36mins.

3-18: Van Breda penalty, 40mins.

Half-time: Worcester Warriors 3-18 Saracens.

8-18: David try, 44mins.

8-21: Lozowski penalty, 51mins. 

8-24: Lozowski penalty, 54mins.

13-24: Howe try, 57mins.

15-24: Weir conv, 58mins.

15-29: Malins try, 60mins.

15-31: Lozowski conv, 61mins.

15-36: Vailanu try, 66mins.

15-38: Lozowski conv, 67mins.

20-38: Howe try, 80mins.

22-38: Weir conv, 80mins.

Full-time: Worcester Warriors 22-38 Saracens.