PICKING up bonus points in a defeat should never be a cause for celebration, according to Worcester Warriors director of rugby Gary Gold.
Warriors slipped to a pulsating 40-33 loss at Aviva Premiership leaders Wasps on Sunday, salvaging two points with two late tries.
But Gold claims Worcester must change their mentality if they want to progress.
And he believes the SIxways players should only be satisfied by winning matches.
“I definitely don’t want us to get into a situation where losing a game of rugby starts to become satisfactory because then I don’t think we would be progressing,” said Gold, whose side scored five tries in a thrilling contest at the Ricoh Arena.
“I thought we defended really well despite conceding six tries.
“We didn’t drive as well as we wanted to but Wasps defended it well and there were a couple of other opportunities we created but didn’t score.
“I want us to have the mentality of wanting to win games and we should not be satisfied with anything less.”
The two points were the first Warriors have picked up away from home in nine Premiership matches this term.
They took Warriors nine points clear of relegation rivals Bristol with four league matches remaining.
“We are not out of the relegation mire yet and I don’t want to be talking like we are,” said Gold.
“I really want our feet to stay on the ground. We haven’t achieved anything other than having turned the corner a little bit.
“Worcester are a good team and we have got to get some stuff together. We are improving.”
Warriors were rocked by the sending off of wing Bryce Heem early in the second half for a clumsy challenge in the air on Wasps wing Willie Le Roux.
Wasps made their one-man advantage count to open up a 40-19 lead before Warriors hit back with two tries in the dying minutes.
“It was an outstanding performance when we went down to 14 men,” said Gold.
“Our scrum went really well for 65 minutes and the players showed a huge amount of character to carry on with the fight.”
Heem was in the thick of the action before his dismissal, scoring a try and having another ruled out after Jackson Willison was penalised for crossing in midfield.
“My immediate reaction was it was going to be very difficult for the officials to allow the try,” saod Gold.
“Although I don’t think the guy (Willison) obstructed the outside defender, he did run into that same space and that doesn’t look good.
“I would like to review it with my heartrate a little bit lower.
“Technically, we crossed Wasps’ line six times and with a couple of really poor executions which we should have done better.”
Warriors remain second-bottom in the table but are just four points adrift of 10th-placed Sale Sharks who they visit on April 7 (7.45pm).
“Sale have turned the corner as well,” said Gold.
“To go to Exeter Chiefs and to run them close was no mean feat.
“Sale are a good team and it’s a tough venue to go to.
“We will prepare really well and, hopefully, we won’t have too many bad injuries and we will give it a full go until the end of the season.”
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