THERE is no denying Satur-day's performance was well below par and was a bitterly disappointing experience for fans, players and coaches alike.

Some supporters chose to make their feelings known by leaving the ground early and can hardly be blamed for doing so as Bristol made mince meat of the home defence and a mockery of the suggestion they will be Prem-iership whipping boys this season.

Worcester themselves will now be favourites for that role and they can have few complaints after a shockingly aw-ful opener.

But it is in the best interests of everyone connected with the club to draw a line under the events of the weekend and concentrate on what can still be a successful and entertaining Premiership campaign.

Admittedly, some of their handsomely-paid stars didn't perform to the levels we have come to expect of them but it wasn't for the want of trying.

With the high turnover at top-flight rugby clubs these days, it does take a long time for teams to blend and rugby director John Brain admitted on the eve of this season that his team were far from the finished article.

That might seem alarming but it shouldn't be forgotten that Warriors lost their first four games in the 2004-5 season before hauling themselves up to ninth position.

Expectations are higher now and they need to start winning a bit sooner if they are to be challenging at the business end of the table.

But the demands of modern Premiership rugby means sides cannot be on top of their form in each and every game. There will be peaks and troughs and it must be hoped Brain's boys hit top gear when the games come thick and fast around Christmas.

The difficulty is that rugby depends more than any other sport on synchronisation and moves have to be carefully choreographed. It only takes one mistake from one person to bring the whole thing crashing down.

When Worcester overcame Wasps at Sixways in March, the first of their tries, which was scored by Aisea Havili, came from a move that had been practiced around 150 times on the training pitch.

No doubt they have been just as meticulous this time around and head coach Anth-ony Eddy is not prepared to go back to the drawing board just because of one bad result.

He said: "We are disappointed with the way we performed but we are not distraught. It's not time to throw everything out and start all over again.

"We are not changing a great deal from what we wanted to do last week.

"We have just got to get some basics right and make sure we show a bit more commitment and physicality in the close-up exchanges."

Eddy and Brain know full well the game plan didn't work on Saturday.

They didn't expect Bristol to play for touch as often as as they did and left Craig Gillies on the bench as result.

Richard Hill is a canny operator and, on this occasion he won the tactical battle. That is no disgrace but underestimating Bristol was a big mistake which could cost Warriors dear come May.

"We may have approached the game with a little bit of overconfidence and not given Bristol the respect they obviously deserved," said Eddy.

"For that we were taught a harsh lesson and the players realise that."

Let's hope he's right and the team comes roaring back for what promises to be a fascinating contest at Kingston Park tonight.