Skipper Pat Sanderson grabbed a brace of tries to ignite the home side – boosted by the arrival of new signing Greg Rawlinson - threatened a late comeback.

But early tries from Rory Lamont and England international Mark Cueto plus a crucial second half score from Ben Foden saw Sharks emerge with the points in a televised clash.

"We're down but we're not out, they are a good side and we needed to be on our A game and we weren't quite there," said Head Coach clive Griffiths.

"They are where we want to be, we are trying a new style of rugby, without it we wouldn't have got points against Wasps and score the tries we did against Montauban.

"On the back of three wins we wanted to kick on but two early tries knocked the stuffing out of us. We were always chasing the game ansd it showed how important it is to get a good start.

"They had that extra edge out wide to take their chances very well, but the last try added insult to injury as we chased the game. We also didn't capitalise on them having two men in the sin bin.

"We'll keep going and trying. We have a strong forward pack and driving lineout but you can't just rely on that.

"By the next round of Guinness Premiership matches we should have guys like Rico Gear and Sam Tuitupou available and that will make a difference."

The game kicked off to a huge roar from a packed Sixways crowd eager to watch Warriors record a first Guinness Premiership win of the season against a star-studded Sale side.

However, it was the visitors who made a dream start when Rory Lamont burst through the Worcester defence and powered over the line for an early lead. Charlie Hodgson added the conversion for a 0-7 lead after four minutes.

Worcester responded with Mark Tucker making good yards after a long punt from Ben Foden. Warriors kept the ball alive with Marcel Garvey exploiting some room before the forwards took it on. A long pass wide left to Thinus Delport nearly opened Sale up for theSpringbok before Worcester were hit for holding on and a sustained period of pressure was over.

Sale rallied with Sebastien Chabel almost knocking on before Chris Pennell showed his big game temperament with a huge boot to touch before mopping up after Luke McAlister send a grubber kick in behind Warriors.

Sharks extended their lead on 12 minutes with Hodgson splitting the posts after a penalty was awarded against Warriors for going over the top.

Worcester looked to be handed a possible way back into the game when Foden made a complete mess of clearing Drahm’s long kick but the tough judge came to his rescue with the ball just running into touch before the Sale full back got a hand.

Sale were only making brief excursions into the Worcester half but making them pay as they broke from deep with Lee Thomas making real yards. The ball came back to Hodgson and he quickly kicked cross field to Cueto who dived over despite the attentions of a desperate Delport. Hodgson hit the post with his conversion but the visitors still led 0-15.

Drahm soon pinned Sale back with another intelligent kick to the corner but Warriors were making little impression on the Sharks lineout as the visitors boomed every ball clear.

Worcester were still winning the territorial battle with Aleki Lutui burrowing close after a lineout near the Sale line before Drahm finally recorded a first score with a penalty.

Hodgson looked to respond with his penalty falling short and being sliced clear by Delport. From the lineout Cueto put in another teasing kick that Pennell was happy to watch into touch.

Worcester then made a thrilling break from deep as Drahm and Matt Powell both broke the line with the scrum half putting a clever kick that Garvey took at full pace before being pushed into touch.

Warriors were now slamming the door on any Sale attack and threatening a score themselves with Delport chipping ahead only for McAlister to infuriate the home crowd by blocking his run.

Netani Talei threatened a late first half try when he bulldozed through men and galloped towards the line before he was hit for holding on as Worcester poured forward to support.

Ruddock resisted the temptation to make any half-time changes as Warriors looked for a way back into the game in plunging temperatures.
Sixways welcomed back big Dom Feaunati for Mark Tucker to a huge cheer before Greg Rawlinson made his Warriors debut coming on for Phil Murphy.

But it was Sale who still looked the more likely with Dean Schofield inches from a third try as he was hauled down by Delport. Warriors again upped the pressure on Sale and almost got lucky when Matt Powell charged down a clearing kick from Hodgson but the ball spun into touch and away from danger.

Sale suddenly attacked from deep and Foden arched his run to perfection to hand off the tackles and diver over in the corner after an arrowing pass out wide from Hodgson. The fly half missed his kick but the Sharks were in complete control at 3-20 up.

Sale lost Dean Schofield to a blood replacement and Worcester managed to spin a scrum to assert some pressure. And the home side were then boosted when Andrew Sheridan was sent to the sin bin after a crude tackle on Delport as the winger looked to break from deep and chipped over the cover defence.

With the extra man the Warriors poured forward and Pat Sanderson peeled off to score to the delight of the home faithful as the home side finally breached the visiting defence. A huge scuffle broke out off the ball after the try and when the action had died down referee Tony Spreadbury sent Tom Wood and Sebastien Bruno to the bin before Drahm added the extras as Warriors sensed a comeback could be on.

New Zealand international McAlister soon took the wind out of Warrior sails with two penalties in two minutes to edge Sale further ahead with less than 15 minutes remaining.

Young scrum half Nick Runciman replaced Powell with time almost up as both teams changed number nine. With eights left the home side were again given hope as Sanderson again smashed his way over after more power packed play from the forwards. Drahm just saw his kick drift wide of the posts.

But again it was McAlister who put the boot in as a third penalty put the game out of reach before Dean Schofield grabbed the bonus point try on the final whistle as he dived over after strong forward power.

Timeline:
4m Lamont t Hodgson c 0-7
12m Hodgson p 0-10
16m Cueto t 0-15
25m Drahm p 3-15
57m Foden t 3-20
63m Sanderson t Drahm c 10-20
66m McAlister p 10-23
68m McAlister p 10-26
72m Sanderson t 15-26
75m McAlister p 15-29
80m Schofield t 15-34

Warriors: 01 Darren Morris, 02 Aleki Lutui, 03 Tevita Taumoepeau, 04 Phil Murphy (Rawlinson 53), 05 Craig Gillies, 06 Tom Wood, 07 Pat Sanderson, 08 Netani Talei, 09 Matt Powell (Runciman 69), 10 Shane Drahm, 11 Marcel Garvey, 12 Mark Tucker (Feaunati 48), 13 Dale Rasmussen, 14 Thinus Delport, 15 Chris Pennell

Replacements: 16 Matt Mullan, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Greg Rawlinson, 19 Kai Horstmann, 20 Nick Runciman, 21 Dominic Feaunati, 22 Joe Carlisle