The Warriors have turned into worriers. Defeat to Leeds at Headingley next Sunday without a bonus point will condemn them to relegation after six seasons in the top flight. They did not have a condemned look about them here , out thought rather than out fought, but the trapdoor beckons.
Worcester had not beaten a side outside the bottom four all season, one of the reasons they began the day below everyone else. They had also shown a vulnerability in defence out wide in recent weeks as the Premiership took to the fast lane and Wasps, who were looking for their first league double over the Warriors, needed only three minutes to create their first try.
Ben Jacobs had stepped out of Chris Pennell's tackle in the opening seconds far too easily. Steve Kefu encountered little resistance as he ran towards the left wing and had the time to weigh his scoring pass to Dominic Waldouck.
Worcester battled as is their way, gamely if ungainly, and after Willie Walker had kicked a penalty following forays by Aleki Lutui and Sam Tuitupou, Danny Cipriani fed Waldouck from a scrum and the centre stepped inside Pat Sanderson and outside Kai Horstmann on a 35-metre run for his second try.
He nearly had a third three minutes later. Tom Varndell kicked out of his own 25, Paul Sackey picked up and fed Waldouck near halfway. The centre ignored options inside and outside him as he aimed for the corner, eventually conceding he was not going to get there and slipping a scruffy inside pass that Tom Rees stooped to his knees to pick up and score.
With Cipriani running the game with nonchalant arrogance, Worcester's cause looked hopeless but Waldouck limped off with an ankle injury and the visitors lost some of their sting. Pat Sanderson led the fightback with a try from a driving line-out and Willie Walker kicked his second penalty before Pennell wrongfooted the defence but Sam Tuitipou lost the ball on the line after being sideswiped by Mark van Gisbergen.
Wasps, who brought on Phil Vickery after 55 minutes for his first appearance in six months, were tepid after the break, extending their lead with a Cipriani penalty without extending themselves despite the lure of a bonus point that they may come to need. Worcester had flurries and the alert Pennell was a handful, but they kept making basic mistakes, such as losing the ball in contact and throwing out poor passes.
The game was meandering to a predictable conclusion when Cipriani's kick on halfway was charged down by Walker. The outside-half had a free run to the line but was holding the ball behind his back, correcting himself in time to send in Alex Grove. It set up a frantic finale but Worcester, who had not scored three tries in a league match all season, had neither the class nor the composure to concoct the winning score.
WORCESTER Latham; Pennell, Rasmussen (Grove 29), Tuitupou (Jones 72), Garvey; Walker, Arr (Powell 79); A Black (C Black, ht), Lutui (Fortey 64), Taumoepeau (Sourgens 60), Rawlinson (Gillies, 67), Kitchener, Horstmann, Sanderson (capt; Cracknell 56), Talei.
Tries Sanderson, Grove Cons Walker 2 Pens Walker 2
WASPS Jacobs; Sackey, Waldouck (van Gisbergen, 30), Kefu, Varndell; Cipriani (Walker, 72), Simpson; Taulafo (Payne, 63), Webber, Broster (Vickery, 55), Shaw (Worsley, 55), Skivington, Hart (Rep, 64), Rees (capt), Ward-Smith.
Tries Waldouck 2, Rees Cons Cipriani 3 Pen Cipriani
Sixways 10,248 Referee Dean Richards
