WARRIORS director of rugby Dean Ryan felt ‘a lack of nous’ cost his side in yesterday’s last-gasp 23-19 defeat against rivals Bristol at Ashton Gate.

Worcester let a 19-18 lead slip in the dying seconds in front of a bumper 8,549 gate.

Bristol centre Ben Mosses broke through to snatch victory for Andy Robinson’s men in the final play of the match in an absorbing Greene King IPA Championship opener.

Ryan also revealed the reason for the absence of Gerrit-Jan van Velze, the experienced South African, who had been appointed Warriors’ skipper on Thursday.

“He has got some pre-existing family commitments which we want to honour,” said Ryan.

“It’s quite clear — we have always known that.”

Ryan admitted that Warriors paid the price for a lack of experience.

“To lose in the last minute is pretty hard and, on reflection, we probably missed two or three opportunities in the first-half to really put the game away,” said Ryan.

“I am disappointed with the defeat but pretty pleased with where we were.

“I thought we dominated quite large areas of the game but we are not clinical enough to be able to impose that.

“We did not show enough experience to get through at the end. It was frustrating that we did not nail it down. I thought we were pretty good considering.

“There are a lot of guys new to this environment and let’s not lose sight of that. A few more miles on the clock might have changed the outcome.”

Back-rower Mike Williams had a storming game for Warriors, but Ryan rued Williams’ yellow card decision.

Ryan said: “I thought it was disappointing he got one. There was a rumble on the side and also a high tackle on Chris Pennell.

“All you can ask for is some consistency from the referee. Williams got yellow-carded for a tip tackle and I can’t work it out.”

Ryan was also frustrated that Warriors failed to profit from a dominant scrum in front of Bristol’s posts in the second-half.

He said: “The shambles of the scrum affair was our moment to win the game. Those moments appear and you either take them or you don’t.

“I thought we got ourselves back in but if you’ve missed those moments earlier you’re exposed to what’s happened in the final moments.”