Drahm finished up with 21 points, after an impressive afternoon with the boot, as Mike Ruddock’s men took control of Pool 2 with a bonus point success.

“We wanted to do that for the fans, we let them down against Ospreys and we knew that. It was important that we showed them we are a good side and can get better. To score some tries and put smiles on their face was ideal,” said Mike Ruddock.

“We played well in the first half but had flat spots in the second and we are disappointed to let in three tries. We want to raise our game by another 30 per cent.

“It’s nice to get three wins on the bounce and be top of the European table but there is still more work to do.

“Montauban mauled well and were organised and strong. When we let them they punished us. But we stopped them getting a losing bonus point and that could be crucial. Now it is key we go out there and win abroad to qualify."

Warriors kicked off to a huge roar from the home faithful but it was Montauban who took the early lead when a piercing break from wing Yoan Audrin saw him break the game line and a penalty was awarded against the home side. Fabien Fortassin slotted the kick for a 3-0 lead.

Worcester responded with scrum half Matt Powell pinning the visitors back with a grubber kick to the corner but numbers in the line robbed Warriors of possession as Aleki Lutui looked to pounce on a loose throw. Drahm then intelligently kicked behind Montauban and Marcel Garvey raced through to pressure the visiting full back into touch. But the lineout and any attacking platform was lost.

Garvey was again in the thick of the action with a forward surge as Warriors recycled and kept banging away but when they opted to kick for the corner after Montauban strayed offside they lost another lineout long.

Warriors continued to dominant territory and when Tom Wood fed Mark Tucker he burst clear and was hauled down short. Montauban failed to roll away and Drahm stepped up to slot the penalty to level the scores.

Drahm was pulling the strings with another testing grubber to the corner rolling out and putting Montauban under pressure in the set piece.

Netani Talei introduced himself to the home crowd with a powerful break and from the resulting break Warriors scored the opening try of the game. Slick hands from Tucker and Delport saw Chris Pennell find the space to just dive over in the left corner. Drahm added a difficult kick from the touchline to stretch the lead to 10-3.

Montauban were struggling to make any yards in the Worcester half as Tucker crunched Jean-Emmanuel Cassin with a big tackle before the visitors claimed back the ball with Garvey working hard for possession.

Worcester grabbed a second try of the game when the ball was spread wide and Delport picked up. The South African showed great strength and footwork as he burst through tackles before offloading to Talei who crashed over for a home debut try. Drahm again made no mistake with the conversion.

The visitors hit back with some time spent in the Warriors half but Pennell showed ice cool nerves to a kick through to gather and thump clear to relieve any pressure being built up.

It was try number three just before the half hour when Garvey sped down the right and the ball was recycled. The ball was flicked inside to Craig Gillies who handed off his man and then raced over from 30 metres out to the delight of the home crowd. Drahm again slotted the kick to complete an electric 10 minute spell.

Montauban should have hit straight back with excellent ball retention grinding them towards the line before Benjamin Sa looked set to make it over the whitewash only to knock on with just yards to go. It was only a temporary reprieve with Yannick Caballero powering over from close range. Fortassin hit the post with the resulting conversion as the lead was cut to 24-8.

But it was soon Worcester back in control with the speed and elusive running of Garvery proving too much as Loki Crichton took the ball on. Another try looked likely as Gillies again broke the line only for the ball to be lost forward.

Drahm looked to add the icing on the cake of a thrilling first half by slotting a drop goal just before the interval. But seconds later his inside pass found Montauban hands and skipper Marc Raynaud attacked the Worcester line and spun the ball wide to Jean-Emmanuel Cassin to dive in the corner to complete the action.

Warriors started the second half again on the front foot with Powell’s high up and under collected by Denis Cech before he was taken into touch by a big tackle from the all-action Delport.

The ball was spun left and right from Warriors with real purpose before Drahm danced his way through a gap and showed great strength to battle over the line.

Cassin threatened a second try of the game from the restart only to be pulled back for a forward pass as the high scoring encounter showed no signs of letting up.

Warriors grabbed a fifth try of the afternoon when Montauban tried to spread the ball wide and the loose pass was scoped up by Delport who pressed the gas and from deep inside his own half and tore over from 70 metres. Drahm again added the extras for a 41-13 lead.

Montauban came back and looked certain to score when Yoan Audrin broke but his final pass to Cech instead found Garvey who plucked the ball out of the air before kicking clear.

Warriors lost Pennell on 56 minutes to the sinbin for a professional foul and the visitors took advantage of the numerical advantage to camp on the Worcester line before Cech made space outside to score a third try for the French outfit. Fortassin hit the bar with his conversion.

Montauban enjoyed their best spell of the game as they put Warriors under massive pressure for a ten minute spell only for the home side to deny them at every attack until Pennell returned.

Warriors rang the changes in the dying minutes with young stars Miles Benjamin, Joe Carlisle and Nick Runciman all introduced with a performance that gave Ruddock plenty of optimism ahead of the crunch home clash with Sale Sharks. 

“We are now looking forward to Sale, they are a good side and we are under no illusions,” he said. “We have got to get up a level to get a result in that game but I am confident we will put a in real display.”

Timeline:
3m Fortassin p 0-3
14m Drahm p 3-3
18m Pennell t Drahm c 10-3
23m Talei t Drahm c 17-3
29m Gillies t Drahm c 24-3
33m Caballero t 24-8
39m Drahm dg 27-8
40m Cassin t 27-13
46m Drahm t Drahm c 34-13
53m Delport t Drahm c 41-13
59m Cech t 41-18

Warriors: 01 Darren Morris (Mullan 60), 02 Aleki Lutui (Fortey 72), 03 Tevita Taumoepeau, 04 Phil Murphy, 05 Craig Gillies (Bowley 60), 06 Tom Wood, 07 Pat Sanderson, 08 Netani Talei (Horstmann 76), 09 Matt Powell (Runciman 80), 10 Shane Drahm (Carlisle 80), 11 Marcel Garvey, 12 Loki Crichton (Benjamin 79), 13 Mark Tucker, 14 Thinus Delport, 15 Chris Pennell

Replacements: 16 Matt Mullan, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Will Bowley, 19 Kai Horstmann, 20 Nick Runciman, 21 Joe Carlisle, 22 Miles Benjamin