WORCESTER Warriors got their Aviva Premiership campaign off to a sorry start as they crashed to a 35-8 defeat at Newcastle Falcons tonight.

The Sixways side were trailing by just two points at the start of the second half after Josh Adams went over in the corner.

But this was to be their final score on a dismal night at Kingston Park as the hosts powered to victory with 25 unanswered points.

Warriors were forced into a late change with England centre Ben Te’o replacing Wynand Olivier in the starting line-up after the South African pulled up in the warm-up.

And this had a knock-on effect as Te’o was at fault for Falcons’ first try inside the opening five minutes.

Alex Tait burst through Te’o’s channel and darted in under the posts.

Sonatane Takulua added the extras.

After the early blow Worcester tried to build pressure as Bryce Heem attempted to wriggle his way through.

Lock Will Spencer also gave his side plenty of aggression.

But handling mistakes were costing them with Dean Hammond spilling the ball after Worcester got within a few metres of the try line following a driving line-out.

Newcastle on the other hand were taking their chances when they came as Takulua slotted home a penalty on 21 minutes.

Adams was then forced to stop hooker Kyle Cooper in his tracks after he slipped off a tackle from Gerrit-Jan van Velze and made a lung-busting run.

Te’o’s evening was cut short on 27 minutes as the struggling British and Irish Lions back left the field and Jamie Shillcock came on in his place.

Moments later Worcester got their first points on the board as Tom Heathcote dispatched a penalty.

The fly-half had another opportunity from the tee just before the break after Falcons were penalised at the scrum. But he missed the target to leave his team trailing 10-3.

Seven minutes after the interval Warriors got their first try of the match.

Adams collected Heathcote’s pass and dived over the try line.

Referee Wayne Barnes consulted with the TMO and after several replays the try was given to the delight of the travelling supporters — but they were soon silenced.

Straight from the restart Newcastle secured a penalty in front of the posts and Takulua made no mistake.

Warriors then fell further behind on 52 minutes.

Simon Hammersley produced a scintillating run before being tackled by Hammond.

But Newcastle remained on the front foot and Rob Vickers crashed over.

Things got worse for Worcester 10 minutes later when Cooper got on the end of a driving line-out to score in the corner.

Takulua missed the conversion but landed a penalty soon after to give Falcons a 28-8 lead.

Warriors had several promising moments but Falcons extended their lead on 75 minutes after Matt Cox was penalised.

Newcastle kicked for the corner before Juan Pablo Socino brushed off a tackle from Heem to go over near the posts with Craig Willis converting to complete a convincing beating for Warriors.

Warriors: Adams; Hammond, Te’o, Willison, Heem; Heathcote, Arr; Bower, Singleton, Schonert, O’Callaghan, Spencer, Cox, Lewis, van Velze. Replacements: Taufete’e, Waller, Alo, Phillips, Faosiliva, Stringer, Olver, Shillocock.

Attendance: 5,865.