COACH Sam Vesty believes Worcester Cavaliers’ players will learn from their heart-breaking home defeat against Saracens Storm in last night's Aviva A-League final.

Worcester’s second string trailed 21-0 after 26 minutes but hit back strongly before slipping to a 27-19 loss in torrential rain at Sixways.

“If you give a quality side a leg up with three early tries it makes life hard,” said Vesty, Worcester’s academy transition coach.

“But the boys showed some real guts and came close to turning the screws at the end. We just fell short but I am very proud of the boys.

“We made a couple of mistakes and the weather played into the game-plan of Sarries and they are very good at it.

“They kick it on the money every time and they chase it better than anyone else in the competition.

“On a wet night when that tactic is going to be the best tactic – it’s very difficult to come up against.

“Ben Spencer bossed the game. He was exceptional and I think if you can put the ball on the money with a chase like they have, then you are going to force mistakes from players."

Early from Maro Itoje, Nick de Jager and Hayden Thompson-Stringer, which were converted by the outstanding Ben Spencer, put Storm firmly in control. Spencer also slotted two second-half penalties.

Worcester replied a penalty try and touchdowns from Jean-Baptiste Bruzulier and James Stephenson, with Ignacio Mieres kicking two conversions but the hosts fell short.

Vesty said: “Five minutes before the break we certainly got ascendancy and we got our driving maul going - and our driving maul was fantastic.

“At half-time, I think Sarries came up with a plan to step away from our driving maul and not compete in that area. It’s a very difficult area to referee at the moment and I think we came away on the sore end a couple of those.

“Sarries are a very good team and this competition is a brilliant competition – it’s for the next set of Premiership players and a great way to blood some youngsters and develop some guys."

Worcester enjoyed an outstanding campaign, topping the Northern Conference after six successive victories against higher-graded opposition.

They recorded pool wins against Gloucester United (34-17), Leicester Tigers (52-21), Northampton Wanderers (22-16), Sale Jets (27-22), Newcastle Falcons (59-11) and Bristol United (29-15).

The Cavaliers booked their maiden A-League final after overcoming Bath United 37-26 in their last-four tie.

Vesty said: “This group have really excelled and Worcester had never been to the final before – so we are happy that we got to the final but we are not happy that we didn’t win it.

“Sarries are a very good team and the Northampton and Gloucester teams who came here were fantastic and we managed to get on the other end of the result against them.

“To go up against massive Premiership clubs and go toe-to-toe with them and come out winning those games shows that we are on the right track.”

Saracens skills coach Joe Shaw insists his Storm side had an 80-minute performance to thank for their triumph.

"It's an amazing feat to have come on this amazing journey to a pretty hostile and intimidating place, and come out on top against a very experienced Worcester side," said Shaw.

"We got off to a tremendous start, but our leaders understand that these are 80-minute games. We knew Worcester would have their moments and they did.

"But we stuck to our strengths and even though it was very difficult to stop their driving maul, we found a way.”