Gloucester, quick-witted and athletic, have come to resemble Muhammad Ali in his prime, so profound is their self-belief and so sophisticated their ability to tease out victory against tenacious opponents. Worcester, the new kids on the block, will have learned priceless lessons from their sixth defeat in seven games which earned them the small consolation of a bonus point.
Gloucester entertained a sell-out crowd with their remarkable capacity to absorb punishment and then counter punch with a lethal series of combinations that drew blood with chilling consistency.
Under the keen scrutiny of the England coach Andy Robinson the Cherry and Whites in effect killed off Worcester with two tries shortly after the break.
Gloucester appeared to be sleepwalking their way through the match. Yet, when they suddenly sprang to life, instinct and raw talent did huge damage. For their first try Henry Paul sliced open Worcester's left flank after his tight forwards had battered a hole through the middle; for their second Jon Goodridge won a lightning 20-metre sprint to get a hand on Duncan McRae's angled grub kick.
Winning home games is the prerequisite of Premiership survival. So far Worcester have beaten only Harlequins in four starts at Sixways and everyone has beaten Quins.
Up front Worcester battled toe to toe with Gloucester for 80 minutes but among the backs it was a different story. A lack of pace and penetration meant that the Worcester pack's brave work was rarely translated into points. This flaw in their armoury was most evident in the last five minutes when Worcester won lineout ball, yet finished empty-handed.
Worcester's director of rugby John Brain's belief that "we could have won the game" was in reality based on a first-half display that saw Worcester twice take a four-point lead and score a try that will give the Gloucester coaching staff sleepless nights. The prop Tony Windo picked up at the base of a ruck and trundled 25 metres down the left flank which was completely undefended.
The game was an old fashioned derby only in the sense that three forwards were sin-binned for acts of skulduggery.
Surely Gloucester's Phil Vickery, sent off along with Steven Sparks for fighting, ought to know better. Later Gloucester's coach Dean Ryan, never known as a player to turn the other cheek, raised a few knowing smiles when he remarked of Vickery that "an experienced player should be able to take a punch on the nose".
Worcester: Delport; O'Leary (Kepu, 60; Gollings, 77), Rasmussen, Lombard, Hinshelwood; J Brown, Powell; Windo (Sparks, 72), Van Niekerk (Daly, 20), Horsman (Fortey, 79), Collier (Vailli, 68), Gillies, Gabey, Sanderson (capt), Hickey.
Try: Windo. Con: Brown. Pens: Brown 2.
Sin-bin: Collier 11, Sparks 74.
Gloucester: Goodridge; Garvey, Fanolua, Paul, Simpson-Daniel; McRae, Gomarsall; Bezuidenhout (Sigley, 75), Azam (Fortey, 61), Powell (Vickery, 40), Buxton (Eustace, 67), Brown, Boer (capt), Hazell, Balding.
Tries : Paul, Goodridge. Con: Paul. Pen: Paul. Drop-goal : McRae. Sin-bin: Vickery 74.
Referee: R Maybank (Kent).
Attendance: 8,500.
