Worcester Warriors went down swinging on Friday night as their European Challenge Cup adventure came to an end at the round-of-16 stage in France against Top 14 side Lyon.

The visitors were up against it from the start against an in-form French outfit but an early try for winger Tom Howe gave them the perfect start, but Baptiste Couilloud cancelled it out soon after.

French international second-row Romain Taufifenua put Lyon ahead after they stole the ball from a Worcester ruck.

Lyon did appear fortunate to escape with only a yellow card for full-back Clement Laporte for a deliberate knock-on late in the first-half, which could have led to a potential penalty try as Howe was in a try-scoring position.

But it did not fall Warriors way and Vivien Devisme extended the lead shortly after the break.

Ted Hill got on the end of an Oli Morris kick soon after to keep Worcester in it before Billy Searle crossed to set-up a grandstand finish.

But Pierre-Louis Barassi scored straight after the restart for the hosts to end any doubts as Worcester exited Europe.

It was a spirited performance from Steve Diamond's men, especially after their last outing was the dismal defeat to Newcastle at Sixways in the Gallagher Premiership.

And Diamond explained how his young team "put pride back into the shirt".

"Today a couple of errors made by ourselves made the difference. But I am really proud of the performance," he said.

"The young lads stood up, Graham Kitchener led from the front with Ted Hill and Niall Annett.

"Maybe the scoreline flattered Lyon slightly but that’s the way it goes in Europe. I know that Gareth Simpson, Fin Smith, Harri Doel, Alex Hearle and the young lads will learn a lot from this experience.

"It was a closer game than the scoreline suggests. I asked the lads to put some pride back into the shirt and they did that in bucket-loads so I am delighted for them.

"We were resilient, we showed some real mental strength in our decision making in attack and defence.

"We had few logistical difficulties getting here but no-one has moaned or whinged about it. We will regroup and we have Wasps coming up next Saturday."