Carlisle also grabbed a sensational individual try after the break before Irish came roaring back to claim victory.

But for Director of Rugby Ruddock it was an encouraging display with the Guinness Premiership kick off with Bath Rugby just a few weeks away.

“We’re disappointed to lose because we set high standards in terms of performance and results,” he said.

“We created a lot of chances in the first half and could have been clear of them. In the second half we made errors which meant they scored, but you can look back at the game and see we created clear openings when the ball just didn’t quite run for us.

“Towards the end they scored an interception try but that can happen when you encourage people to offload. But the real positives are the chances we created in the first half.”

Warriors made a lightening start to Ruddock’s home debut as boss and you could soon see his impact on the style of play with quick hands to offload the ball at every opportunity with Dale Rasmussen and Gavin Quinnell making some thundering breaks.

Worcester had lost fly half Drahm in the warm-up to injury but his replacement Carlisle showed nerves of steel by drilling two early penalties between the posts for the relative comfort of a 6-0 lead.

New-look Warriors were keeping the ball alive at every opportunity with Marcel Garvey continuing his impressive early season form with some lung-bursting breaks down the right that troubled the visitors defence.

The pack was also looking impressive as it rumbled close to the Irish line as the early dominance continued, this time the ball knocked forward just as the white try line approached.

Irish finally made it into Worcester territory after ten minutes but Ruddock’s men were slamming the door shut and thumping into tackles with every player keen to impress with just a few weeks until the big kick off.

Warriors looked the real deal with Carlisle producing a stunning disguised pass to release Chris Pennell from deep. The young full back then intelligently flipped the ball outside to Garvey who instantly chipped over his man and in a flash was gone. The winger looked certain to score as he won the race to the ball only for a cruel bounce to rob him of what would have been a stunning opening try.

The home side was battling for every ball and a turnover saw them again attack out wide with skipper for the day Matt Powell, in the absence of Pat Sanderson, pinning the visitors back with his grubber.

Lineout king Craig Gillies was at his dominant best to disrupt the Irish set piece as the home side continued to dominate both possession and territory in the opening half hour.

Worcester thought they had broken through when Gavin Quinnell ripped the ball off his man after a collection of handling errors but this time was pulled back for a forward pass.

Fan’s favourite Quinnell was making a huge impact with a number of crushing runs in midfield alongside back row partners Tom Wood and James Collins as the volume inside Sixways grew.

Full back Pennell was also starring with a cool clearance from deep after combining with fellow young gun Carlisle after some rare Irish pressure in the Worcester half.

The Exiles were relatively contained for most of the first half but burst into life just three minutes before the break.

Scrum half Paul Hodgson spotted a gap around the breakdown and sped clear before dancing around Pennell only to be dragged back by Thinus Delport. The danger was still not clear and Irish cleverly kicked over the top with no full back at home only for Dale Rasmussen to put his body on the line to collect the loose ball.

However, Irish were not to be denied for long and a break from Nils Mordt saw Worcester caught by a sucker punch just minutes before the break with Topsy Ojo the man out wide to finish the move off. Jeremy Staunton missed the conversion but the lead was cut to a single point.

Just seconds before the interval the lead was extended by the accurate boot of Carlisle who again spilt the posts with a long range effort for a 9-5 half-time advantage.

Warriors made one change at the break with Mark Tucker replacing Gary Trueman but immediately fell behind.

Visiting winger Sailosi Tagickibau was the man to benefit as he pounced on a loose ball after Garvey tried to keep the play alive. Staunton added the extras for a 12-9 lead.

But man-of-the-moment Carlisle hit back for Warriors instantly from the kick off with a piece of sublime brilliance. There was little on when the 19-year-old received the ball on the 22 but his chip kick over the top saw him fly past the defence and dive over to score a memorable first try for the club.

Staunton missed a penalty before making amends with a drop goal that put his side a point ahead. And then Irish then looked to take control when Tagickibau scored his second of the afternoon as he intercepted and then won the foot race to collect his punt forward despite the attentions of Carlisle and Delport.

Carlisle pushed a kick wide after Warriors were awarded a penalty as the game entered the final stages while Staunton made no mistake for a 23-14 lead.

Worcester threatened to stage a late fight-back as they hunted for a way back into the game with Garvey just hauled up short and James Collins having a try chalked off after the referee adjudged the quick tap penalty had been taken from the wrong place.

Ryan Powell was also held up after he was bundled over before the final whistle sounded to complete Warriors pre-season plans.

Timeline
3m Carlisle p 3-0
6m Carlisle p 6-0
39m Ojo t 6-5
40m Carlisle p 9-5
41m Tagickibau t Staunton c 9-12
42m Carlisle t 14-12
56m Staunton dg 14-15
66m Tagickibau t 14-20
73m Staunton p 14-23

Team: 01 Tony Windo (Morris 60), 02 Chris Fortey (Gotting 73), 03 Tevita Taumoepeau, 04 Phil Murphy (Bowley 60), 05 Craig Gillies, 06 Tom Wood, 07 James Collins, 08 Gavin Quinnell (Hickey 60), 09 Matt Powell (R Powell 73), 10 Joe Carlisle, 11 Marcel Garvey, 12 Gary Trueman (Mark Tucker 40), 13 Dale Rasmussen, 14 Thinus Delport, 15 Chris Pennell

Replacements: 16 Darren Morris, 17 Ben Gotting, 18 Will Bowley, 19 Drew Hickey, 20 Ryan Powell, 21 Dom Feaunati, 22 Mark Tucker, 23 Alex Grove