WORCESTER new boy Danny Gray was forced to admit that his side were overmatched after they failed to qualify for the finals of the J P Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rug-by Sevens series at Edgeley Park.

The Warriors went into the final match of the night against hosts Sale knowing that a win would be enough to put them through to the final at the Stoop on August 5.

But they came drastically unstuck as a woeful first-half display saw them ship four tries before the interval and they never looked like recovering.

But despite the disappointment Gray, a former England international in the seven-man game, saw plenty of encouraging signs ahead of their first season back in the Premiership.

“Sevens is a hard game and we had a big lack of experience but I think the lads can hold their heads high.

“Sale and Newcastle had really strong sides and we held our own for the most part,” said the former Exeter Chief who joined this summer from French club Montauban.

“We worked really hard and gave 100 per cent and at the end of the day that’s all you can really ask in a tournament like this.

“We went into our last game knowing we had a shot at making the final but we just made too many mistakes in the first-half and that cost us.

“In sevens you can’t afford to make mistakes like that, we surrendered precious ball too many times and left too much to do.

“For me, it was really nice to pull on the Worcester shirt for the first time and in terms of pre-season training, tests don’t come much better than sevens and the lads are happy with what we got out of it.”

The Sixways outfit looked good in their first encounter of the evening as they dispatched Leicester 19-10, Gray finishing with two tries with James Free-man adding the other score.

But the Warriors failed to im-prove on that fine start as they struggled to contain a Newcastle Falcons side that finished top of the group on the night with three wins from three.

The Kingston Park outfit, runners-up in this competition last year, flew into a 19-0 lead before two Sam Miller tries late on added an air of respectability to the final 19-10 scoreline.

That meant the Warriors went into the final clash of the round against hosts Sale Sharks knowing that a win for either side would put them through.

But the Sharks tore into the Warriors from the outset, racking up an astonishing 26-0 lead before Nile Dacres and Miller touched down.

But that was as good as it got for Worcester as Sharks romped to a 45-12 win and a place in the final at the Stoop.

Tickets for every round of the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby Sevens Series are available through Tic-ketmaster: ticketmaster.co.uk or by calling 0844-847-2492.