WORCESTER Warriors romped to a seven-try 46-0 demolition of Bucuresti which saw them finish the European Challenge Cup pool stages as the competition's highest try-scorers and number one seed going into the quarter-finals.

The Sixways outfit snatched top seeding after Sale Sharks were held to a 14-14 draw by Montpellier in pool four.

Worcester will now be at home in the last eight to Montpellier with a home semi-final, should they progress, against Newcastle Falcons.

Despite atrocious conditions, Worcester tried to play running rugby against the Romanian minnows and were rewarded for their endeavours with a convincing victory and a clean sheet to boot.

Rico Gear's breath-taking try was the highlight of the afternoon's work, while hooker Matt Mullan crossed over twice and Miles Benjamin, Dale Rasmussen, Gavin Quinnell and James Brown also touched down.

Rasmussen put out a statement of Worcester's intent inside the first minute with a huge hit that forced a knock-on and a turn-over of possession.

However, Bucuresti, to their credit, were not overawed early on and they disrupted the ensuing scrum and reclaimed possession via a knock-on from Warriors' number eight Drew Hickey.

Samoan stand-off Loki Crichton probed the visitors' defence with some well-weighted kicks in behind and, when they did clear their lines, Thinus Delport and All Black ace Gear returned the ball with interest.

Delport fielded a punt upfield and fed Kiwi speedster Gear, who ran hard at the defence before setting up Benjamin.

The Solihull-born wing streaked past his man and looked set to score in the corner, but a brilliant crunching cover tackle from Bucuresti full-back Florin Vlaicu put the youngster into touch in the corner.

Warriors continued to pile on the pressure but the Romanians were able to clear the danger after a Darren Morris knock-on.

Although director of rugby Mike Ruddock named the strongest back line at his disposal, the Welshman opted to give youth a chance in the pack and man-of-the-match James Collins, flanker Tom Wood and lock Will Bowley all worked hard for their team and impressed.

However, it was a moment of brilliance from Gear that provided the game's opening score.

Delport again gathered a high punt and ran at Bucuresti, before feeding the Kiwi wing just inside his own half.

The All Black showed scintillating pace and power to speed away from one man, break a tackle, beat another man and hand off the full-back to score under the posts. Crichton was on target with his conversion to put Warriors 7-0 ahead.

Five minutes later, Worcester grabbed their second score when Mullan, playing at hooker as opposed to prop where he has featured recently, benefited from a powerful rolling maul to get his name on the scoresheet.

Crichton missed the conversion but made amends shortly afterwards with a straight-forward penalty to stretch Worcester's lead to 15 points.

Bucuresti were reduced to 14 men when Mihai Macovei was sin-binned for not rolling away.

Warriors should have scored their third try when good play by stand-in captain Matt Powell sent Wood scampering through to the try-line. However, referee Alan Falzone called play back, suggesting the young back-rower had not grounded the ball, which looked like a tough call.

The home side weren't to be denied for too long as Benjamin pounced for the third try.

Gear's intelligent grubber kick into the in-goal area looked to have been dealt with by Vlaicu but, as he spilt the ball, Benjamin was on hand to capitalise and touch down. Crichton's conversion attempt was again wayward.

On the front foot soon after Bucuresti's best spell of pressure, Worcester did well to keep ball alive in the face of some ferocious Bucuresti tackles with a string of quick off-loads and slick handling.

Worcester's early attacking impetus in the second-half was hit by a selection of forward passes and knock-ons, but they still managed to retain the vast majority of possession.

However, the Romanians showed fighting spirit. Centre Catalin Dascalu displayed neat footwork to spin away from Gear and fellow Kiwi Sam Tuitupou but Bucuresti couldn't retain possession and Warriors broke down the touchline.

Powell, Crichton and Delport were replaced by Ryan Powell, James Brown and Chris Pennell respectively as Ruddock opted to give his bench players a run-out.

After sustained dogged defence by Bucuresti, Rasmussen broke their resolve by handing off his man and sliding in under the posts for Worcester's fourth try.

Replacement Brown slotted the simple conversion from in front of the posts.

Brown then pressed his case for more regular inclusion with a try down the short side from a neat Ryan Powell pass.

The replacement stand-off couldn't complete the tricky conversion though.

Bowley nearly got his name on the ever-growing scoresheet, only to be denied by a fumble with the line beckoning.

Warriors, however, turned the ball over at the resulting scrum and Powell fed Quinnell who barged over from close range. Brown added the extras to make it 39-0.

After coming off the replacements' bench, Craig Gillies made his presence felt with two line-out steals in quick succession.

From the second, Powell made a blind-side dart, only to be smashed into touch.

However, a big hit from Tuitupou turned the ball over and, under pressure from the closing Mullan and Wood, Vlaicu had to hack into touch.

Gillies once again claimed the throw-in and set up the rolling maul, where Mullan was on hand to be driven over for his second try and Warriors' seventh to round of a pleasing day's work.