HEAD coach Carl Hogg felt the disruption of Ben Tapuai’s injury “broke” Worcester Warriors’ momentum as they lost 29-13 at 14-man Bath.

Play stopped for almost 10 minutes as Tapaui received treatment following a blow to the head and was stretchered off the field.

Moments before that Freddie Burns was sent off for a tip tackle on Josh Adams and Warriors sniffed an opportunity to claw their way back.

“(The stoppage) broke the swing of the game when we were starting to get back in and build a bit of territory and momentum ourselves,” Hogg said.

“But it is part and parcel of the game – you have got to refocus, concentrate and move forward.”

Referee Luke Pearce brandished Burns a red card after video replays showed Josh Adams land on his head as the fly-half drove through the tackle.

His dismissal left Worcester with a man advantage for the final 17 minutes.

But it was Bath who scored in that period courtesy of a late Josh Lewis penalty.

“In these situations once it goes to the TMO there is only going to be one outcome,” Hogg said.

“We tried to play in the right areas of the field, but I thought Bath defended particularly well.

“It is about applying pressure on opposition and holding on to possession.

“If we can go multi-phases inside an opposition's 22 regardless of whether it is Bath or any other team you will create opportunities.”

Bath director of rugby Todd Blackadder also had no complaints with the decision to give Burns his marching orders.

"It was a definite red card,” he said.

“As soon as legs get above the parallel it is in the hands of the referee. It was deserved.

“I know there was nothing intentional from Freddie, but it’s the way things happen and we will take it on the chin.

“I hope it’s not (a three-week suspension), but it probably will be.”

Aled Brew struck twice while Jonathan Joseph and Ben Tapuai went over in a bonus point victory at The Rec.

But Blackadder did not believe the final score reflected the contest as Worcester got on the board with tries from Dean Hammond and Jamie Shillcock.

“We were bitterly disappointed with the way we exited as that’s something we pride ourselves,” Blackadder added.

“Probably the try before half-time gave us that buffer, but it certainly didn’t reflect who had the momentum as I thought Worcester really had us under pressure.

“I could not have been prouder of my team.

“In the last 15 minutes I could see how far we have come in two weeks as we kept our composure and walked away with the bonus point win.”