INJURY-depleted Worcestershire Saints were pummelled 78-6 at Gloucester Warriors in the totalrl.com Rugby League Conference South-West Division.

It was back in 1998 that the Saints recorded their last win at Gloucester and without several key players it would have taken a miracle for them to have returned with the two points.

Worcester struggled to compete with the strong Gloucester pack and it was the home team's dominance around the scrum that gave them the platform for their victory.

It took the Saints 12 minutes to carry the ball into the Gloucester half of the pitch and by then they were already trailing by 10 points.

The only bright moment in a difficult first half was the sole Worcester try scored by Mark McKillop who ran the length of the pitch to score under the posts. Grant Frasier converted to reduce the deficit to 16-6.

The home team replied within minutes with a converted try, they added two further scores and the half ended with the Saints trailing by 34-6.

Playing only for pride the Saints did push the home team back on the defensive for periods of the half but they always lacked the cutting edge to breach the home defence.

The superior pace of the Gloucester backs allowed them to score at regular intervals and they added nine tries in the second half.

On Saturday the Saints will be travelling for the third week running when they travel to Taunton to face the Somerset Vikings. The Vikings who are playing in their first season of the Rugby League Conference have already lost their opening two matches.