When Saracens' head coach Steve Diamond started by saying "Sorry, lads, but Andy Farrell has already gone. I know you would much rather speak to him", then it said everything about the sort of week the club had just had.
That they were able to overcome that distraction to end it with this victory can be put down to a combination of some rugged forward play, a smidgen of fortune (courtesy of the referee Wayne Barnes) and, perhaps most importantly, a virtuoso performance from Thomas Castaignède.
Operating from outside-centre, the diminutive Frenchman scored the best try of the match after 21 minutes and on the stroke of half-time created another with a wonderful long pass. Wherever he appeared, creativity followed. And how Saracens needed his class, for they had fallen 12-0 down after 11 minutes with Worcester playing with a tempo and a width rarely seen at Sixways this season.
"He was back to his best," said Diamond of Castaignède. "The good thing is he has now played seven games on the rattle, which is almost unknown in his career in England."
Ben Russell's score and Nicky Little's touchline conversion - a rarity on a bad day for the kickers - meant Saracens turned round only 15-14 down. This was a game-swinging moment according to Worcester's head coach, Andy Keast: "If they had had to chase the game, they would have had to play differently, but because of this they could slow the game down which suited them."
And slow it down they did, starving Worcester of possession, especially after Ben Johnston had touched down to give them the lead after 48 minutes. The legality of some of that process is a moot point, with the home crowd - yet another sell-out of 8,498 - voicing their displeasure at a host of Barnes's decisions, especially at the breakdown where the majority of the 14-6 penalty count against the home side was accrued.
Keast refused to be drawn afterwards, preferring to watch the video this morning before passing comment. But there is little doubt that his side came off worse after a poor display by Barnes.
However, Worcester were also agents of their own downfall, as Keast admitted when referring to Thinus Delport's bad missed touch which instigated Russell's crucial try: "Thinus was hanging himself at half-time," he lamented.
As for Saracens, they are now only two points behind third-placed Sale but, in eyeing a play-off place from three remaining matches against Wasps, Leicester and Gloucester, Diamond cautioned: "We won't beat anyone if we put in another first half like that."
Worcester: Delport (Hayes, 83); Pieters, Rasmussen, Lombard, Hinshelwood; Brown, Powell; Windo, Van Niekerk (Daly, 33; Van Niekerk, 76), Fortey, Collier (Murphy, 49), Gillies, Vaili (Hickey, 49), Sanderson (capt), MacLeod-Henderson.
Scorers: Tries: Hinshelwood 2. Con: Brown. Pens: Brown 2.
Saracens: Scarbrough (Bartholomeusz, 30); Johnston, Castaignède, Harris (Sorrell, 50), Vaikona; Little, Bracken (Rauluni, 67); Yates, Ibanez (Cairns, 50), Broster (Lloyd, 67), Fullarton (Chesney, 57), Raiwalui, Randell, Russell, Vyvyan (capt).
Scorers: Tries: Castaignède, Russell, Johnston. Con: Little 2.
Sin-bin: Fullarton, 34.
Referee: W Barnes (RFU). Att: 8,498
