Worcester Warriors 24 Brive 25

WORCESTER Warriors’ wait for a victory in the European Challenge Cup continued after a narrow defeat against French Top 14 outfit Brive at Sixways.

Warriors will feel they had enough possession, particularly in the second half, to have chalked up their first win in the competition since beating La Rochelle last November.

However, the hosts paid the price for too slow a start and for switching off at crucial moments, including for Brive’s match-clinching try when the visitors had a man in the sin-bin.

Andy Short’s last-gasp try, converted by replacement Jamie Shillcock, salvaged a losing bonus point for Warriors but they sit at the bottom of Pool Three after two successive losses.

The main talking point was a sickening collision which knocked out Warriors fly-half Tom Heathcote 10 minutes into the second period.

There was a lengthy stoppage in play after Heathcote was poleaxed with Warriors on the attack and, at first sight, it was unclear whether the stand-off had been tackled cleanly or illegally.

Irish referee Gary Conway was on the spot and, with no television match official facility available for the fixture, ruled Heathcote had been tackled fairly despite protests from the home crowd.

Warriors are using the competition to expose their young players to higher-graded opposition and there were some strong performances from the front five.

Brive won a succession of scrum penalties in the first half but the balance of power shifted after the break with skipper Ryan Bower and Mike Daniels putting in impressive shifts.

The second-row combination of Andrew Kitchener and Christian Scotland-Williamson was also effective, particularly in the line-out and with Warriors on the front foot.

Scrum-half Luke Baldwin scooped the man-of-the-match award and deserved the accolade after an energetic 69 minutes in which he posed plenty of problems for the Brive defence.

England hopeful Ben Te’o was turned over a couple of times at the breakdown but hit back with a well-taken try and a host of off-loads, including one audacious effort.

And Chris Pennell grew into the game in his first appearance of the season and, despite looking rusty at the beginning, was sharp towards the finish.

Brive stormed into a 10-0 lead after Taku Ngwenya evaded weak tackling to cross and Thomas Laranjeira slotted the conversion and then a penalty.

Laranjeira also missed a drop goal before Warriors woke up and replied with a try moments after Short had been thwarted illegally just short of the Brive line.

After kicking to the corner, Warriors drove towards the Brive line and referee Conway awarded a penalty try which Heathcote converted.

Laranjeira missed a long-range penalty on the stroke of half-time but Heathcote’s three-pointer six minutes into the second period levelled the match at 10-10.

With Warriors in control, Te'o finished off a sweeping move for their second try and Shillcock’s touchline conversion put the hosts 17-10 ahead.

However, Warriors’ joy was short-lived because Brive skipper Said Hireche burrowed over from close range and Nicolas Bezy’s penalty edged the French side 18-17 in front.

Brive were reduced to 14 men when Jan Uys was yellow-carded for a late tackle but the depleted French side made the game safe with a converted try from Thomas Acquier.

Although Warriors had the final word when Short finished off another slick move and Shillcock converted, Brive celebrated their first away European win in nine attempts.