ANGRY Worcester Warriors fans have slammed Irish referee Gary Conway after a match-ending challenge on fly-half Tom Heathcote went unpunished in a 25-24 defeat against Brive in the European Challenge Cup at Sixways.

Heathcote was stretchered from the pitch wearing an oxygen mask after he was clattered in the 50th minute of the Pool Three clash.

The former Bath and Edinburgh player was knocked unconcious in the nasty-looking incident and played halted for around eight minutes.

Conway deemed the challenge on Heathcote was fair and play eventually re-started with a scrum.

After the match, Heathcote replied to fans' concerns on Twitter to say he was "a little groggy but all OK."

Neil Sarkar

The obvious red card incident was an absolute disgrace. We were ideally positioned in the East Stand on the halfway and there was no doubt at all that it should have been a red.

Couple that with the countless other ridiculous decisions our lads faced I thought they kept their heads high and fought all the way to that final whistle.

Adam Heighway

Honesty is the best policy! Will have to watch it again mid-week I thought it was a fair but very hard tackle! Side on.

Beki Rose

Was good to see Chris Pennell back but terrible referee, absolutely disgusted he didn't punish Brive for that bad tackle against Tom Heathcote. Hope all is well with him.

Hallowed Warrior

I was sat directly in line with the incident and had the exact same view as the linesman. In real time it looked like one of the worst 'tackles' I have seen in over a decade at Sixways.

At best it was a high no arms tackle. I am hearing that Tom is luckily OK but I would be surprised if he isn't out for a few weeks with concussion protocol.

Fiver

From my view, which I think was a pretty good one, it looked like a shoulder to the head with a token gesture to suggest arms were a consideration.

The referee stopped the game straight away suggesting he saw what happened.

I hope we make a formal complaint. Brive made numerous high tackles which were missed or ignored.