On days like this the influx of a team of South Africans does not seem like such a bad idea for Saracens. A performance this abject against the Premiership's second-worst team is unlikely to attract every exiled Bok in the south of England to Wembley next season and it only served to highlight the work that needs to be done at the Hertfordshire club.

The home side led 6-0 after a first half so lacking in entertainment and ­riddled with errors that a Saracens player putting a foot in touch resulted in celebrations from the crowd that seemed to transport Sixways Stadium to the last days of Rome. The racket the ­Warriors fans are still making is admirable, given that their side's domestic ­season is ­drifting to an unsatisfactory and inconsequential denouement.

The visitors' fly-half, Gordon Ross, raised his only flags of the match when he halved the ­deficit with a straightforward penalty just after the break. Alas for Saracens, that was Worcester's cue to serve up some of the attacking rugby the game needed. The full-back Willie Walker, having taken over kicking duties from Matthew Jones in the first half, kicked two more ­penalties before Alex Grove's fleet-footed finish rounded off a swift attack. Saracens never looked like getting out of their own half and securing a losing bonus point. David Seymour's try was too little, too late.