WORCESTER head coach Dean Ryan described Bath's George Ford as "outstanding" as the fly-half marshalled his side to a 21-6 victory on Friday night.

Ford kicked 11 points and there were two tries from Anthony Perenise and Horacio Agulla to condemn the Warriors to a seventh successive Aviva Premiership defeat.

A pair of Paul Warwick penalties were all Worcester could muster in reply as Ryan was left singing the praises of Ford.

"At 10, Ford just sat back in the pocket, kept popping into the corners and made it very difficult for us," he said.

Worcester showed great spirit to put in a much-improved performance before their largest crowd of the season of over 9,000.

"Our scrum was very impressive and I didn't think we were given enough credit for it as I thought the referee, Greg Garner was a bit cautious in the conditions," Ryan said.

"Our ball retention was poor but we showed a lot of commitment and are going in the right direction.

"We lack a ball-carrying aspect in our game and we were up against a very good side that excels at the breakdown in these conditions."

The crucial moment of the game came midway through the first half when Dean Hammond's try was ruled out by the television match official.

Ford immediately hammered the resulting drop out into the opposition 22 from where Perenise scored to put Bath 16 points up.

"That was big call, it was a 14-point turnaround and a huge hit for us to take at that stage." said Ryan.

Bath's coach, Mike Ford, was full of praise for his team.

"It was a professional performance in difficult conditions against a desperate side," he said.

"They came out and had a purple patch early in the second half but once Agulla scored the game was as good as over."

Francois Louw was at the centre of the Bath forward effort, but Ford confirmed he would not be available for the next few weeks as he will be required by South Africa.

"Francois is world class; he is right up there with the likes of McCaw and Pocock as the leading world number sevens," he said.

"He doesn't commit to every ruck but knows exactly when to go it and more often than not steals the ball without giving away penalties."

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