HEAD coach Carl Hogg has warned his players to improve their defensive “discipline” after Worcester Warriors squandered a golden opportunity to seal a first Aviva Premiership win.

Hogg’s men played some exhilarating running rugby in Saturday’s breathless 34-34 draw against Sale Sharks in front of a disappointing 6,136 crowd at Sixways.

Worcester scored 26 unanswered points as they battled back from 17-5 down to lead 31-17 before Sale finished strongly to snatch an unlikely draw on the new artificial pitch.

Warriors drew their opening home game 23-23 against Gloucester and the result leaves them second-bottom in the table after four matches.

Worcester now face a “critical” clash on Sunday when they host an improving Newcastle Falcons side (3pm).

“I think discipline is the key message,” admitted Hogg, whose side scored five tries in a rollercoaster display.

“We had the wind behind us in the second half and were travelling reasonably well.

“But we gave away 10 penalties in the second half and it allowed Sale to camp in our 22.

“We knew they had a big, strong drive and a forward pack who could rumble around corners.”

He added: “Defensively, you need to be different on this 4G surface.

“We had to be a bit more patient, hold on to the ball and we needed to make Sale defend for longer periods because eventually they would have cracked.”

Warriors’ back-line cut Sharks’ defence to shreds at times after a slow start with teenage full-back Jamie Shillcock scoring two tries on his home Premiership debut.

The Coventry-born utility back has stood out in his two top-tier appearances and ran from inside his own half to touch down for his second against Sale.

“Jamie (Shillcock) looks very assured under the high ball and it just looks as if he’s got time and space which are the characteristics of a top-quality player,” said Hogg.

“Jamie has been a real find for us. Whether his future lies at full-back, 10 or even at nine, he has great ability.

“When we got the ball in hand and went multi-phase, I thought we looked a very dangerous side. We scored tries off the back of that.”

However, Warriors fly-half Ryan Lamb had a mixed afternoon.

Lamb was slick with ball in hand but he struggled off the kicking tee and a loose first-half pass was intercepted by Sale centre Will Addison who waltzed through for the visitors’ second try.

Sale’s stand-off AJ MacGinty won the battle of the number 10s and kicked superbly to get Steve Diamond’s side back into the contest.

Hogg said: “With ball in hand, Ryan (Lamb) can make shapes move and can really distort defences.

“He had one or two errors in the game but that’s part of Ryan’s make-up and he can make things happen when he’s got ball in hand.”

With a historically poor away record in the top tier, Warriors know they must win their home matches.

Newcastle, who have their own artificial surface at Kingston Park, will be no pushovers when they travel to Worcester on Sunday.

Falcons climbed to sixth in the table after an impressive 18-13 victory against Gloucester at Kingsholm.

“Every game at home in the Premiership is critical,” said Hogg.

“To be successful in the Premiership season, you have to pick up wins at home and we know how vital our next game is.

“We didn’t treasure the possession and look after the ball against Sale and we let them off the hook.”