DIRECTOR of rugby Dean Ryan admitted Worcester Warriors had been dealt a “sobering lesson” in their 48-18 defeat against Saracens at Twickenham.

The reigning Aviva Premiership champions were outstanding in the 20 minutes after the interval and scored six tries in total.

Ryan said: “I think we always knew it was going to be a tough day.

“We needed a couple of things for them not to be as clinical as they were in the first 30 minutes and for us to get used to how much pressure gets put on the small elements of the game. We always knew that, coming into this competition, we would get some pretty serious dents.

“It’s unrealistic to think we could just come across from a competition then jump again to the top end of it.

“It was a sobering lesson but one we are prepared to take to get better. Before we had experienced this we only talked about things. This was an insight for the players into how much pressure gets put on the small points of the game.

“I think there’s a dream that there’s a different strike move or a different way of moving – there isn’t. Saracens are the best side.

“They do exactly the same things as us – they just do it better than us and that can be enlightening for you because you can then go and work on it or it could be sobering for you because you might realise we are second at it.

“For us, at the moment, it’s quite enlightening because we can go away and work hard at those things.”

Warriors conceded an early try before enjoying a sustained period of possession and attacked the Saracens line without managing to score any points.

“We had enough opportunities in the first 20 to 30 minutes to get something but we came away with nothing – but when they made a break it was seven points,” said Ryan.

But Warriors finished with a flourish, scoring tries in the final nine minutes through Joe Rees and skipper Gerrit-Jan van Velze.

“We are always going to keep going until the end,” said Ryan.

“We don’t lose through lack of heart or anything else. We just lose because we’re against a side who execute better than us.

“They execute the drive better than us and their ruck pressure is phenomenal and you don’t get let off and that takes a bit of getting used to.

“Saracens are the top side in Europe and we have got to recognise where we can get better and go away and work at it.”

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said he felt the half-time score – which saw Worcester trail 20-6 – had been harsh on Ryan’s men.

“The first-half was a bit unkind to them,” said McCall.

“We didn’t have a lot of ball and scored two tries from 50 metres. We didn’t have a lot of pressure on Worcester during that period. We played really for the first 20 minutes of the second half. Worcester are a very well organised team who are energetic and fight hard for each other.”