Worcester 24-17 Harlequins: Warriors resist late Quins fightback
Last Updated: 01/01/17 6:48pm
Harlequins' poor away form continued as they crashed to a 24-17 Aviva Premiership defeat at the hands of struggling Worcester at Sixways.
It was Quins' 12th defeat in their last 13 Premiership games away from home since director of rugby Conor O'Shea announced his departure last January.
The loss means Quins are seventh in the league, nine points off the play-offs, while the Warriors stay ahead of last-place Bristol who briefly lifted themselves from the bottom of the table with an away win over Sale earlier in the day.
It was an awful afternoon for the Londoners as they lost four players through injury with Chris Robshaw, Jamie Roberts, Jack Clifford and George Merrick all failing to complete the game.
There was also a yellow card for Joe Marler as Quins' eight-strong England squad contingent were easily outshone by an outstanding performance from Worcester's only representative in the squad, Ben Te'o. Te'o and Dean Hammond scored tries for Worcester with Ryan Mills adding a conversion and four penalties.
Charlie Matthews and Alofa Alofa scored tries for Quins with Tim Swiel converting both and adding a penalty.
Worcester started strongly with Te'o making a couple of strong bursts to test the visitors' defence before they were rewarded with the first try after seven minutes.
The hosts were able to secure possession from a lineout 10 metres out before a clever long pass from Mills gave Hammond the chance to race in at the corner.
Mills converted as his side continued to have the better of the opening quarter with Quins suffering two injury blows as both Merrick and Clifford left the field for head assessments.
Mills extended Worcester's lead with a penalty as Quins' slow opening continued with neither of the injured players returning and Robshaw receiving treatment for a problem with his left arm.
Quins conceded another penalty, this time when under pressure at a scrum on halfway, from which Mills registered another three points with his boot.
Worcester suffered a setback when lock Darren Barry was sin-binned for dragging down a driving lineout but Quins couldn't capitalise and conceded another score before half-time.
Te'o was held up just short of the try-line before Marler was yellow carded and the resulting penalty was kicked by Mills to give the hosts a 16-0 interval lead.
Quins' first-half misery was compounded by the loss of Roberts, who was helped off with a leg injury as the players left the field for the break.
Robshaw also departed at half-time with David Ward and Charlie Walker coming on as the second-half substitutes.
Within three minutes of the restart, Worcester sealed the game when Te'o brushed aside some poor tackling for the home side's second try.
Marler returned from the sin-bin with Swiel replacing Ruaridh Jackson at fly-half for the visitors before Mills hit a post with a straightforward penalty attempt.
After an hour, Quins finally got on the scoreboard with a close-range try from Matthews, but a fourth penalty from Mills ensured Warriors a morale-boosting victory.
Four minutes from time, Alfa scored a second for Quins with Swiel converting before kicking a penalty to give his side a bonus point.
