The Warriors’ outside half Willie Walker was sin-binned with seven minutes to go which ultimately proved crucial as the Saints scored their match-winning try with only two minutes remaining.

Despite the defeat Ruddock praised his players for their battling qualities.

“I'm very proud of my players. A lot of people are writing us off as no-hopers but we certainly showed a lot of hope today.

“Our defence was rock solid, we tackled everything around the fringes but couldn't cope with being outflanked at the end.

“There were nine academy players in our squad today and three of them combined superbly for Miles Benjamin's try when Greg King and Alex Grove linked superbly.

“We deserved at least a draw today and the players are very down.”

Northampton’s Jim Mallinder admitted his players, who trailed 17-7 at half-time, had been nervous in their opening fixture of the season.

He said: “It was a nervous performance but it is always good to start with a win, especially at home.”

Mallinder urged patience from his players during the half-time interval.

“I told the players to keep playing. We were playing most of the rugby, had most of the possession but had given away a soft interception try,” he said.

Mallinder praised man of the match Shane Geraghty, saying: “He made quite an impression, he had a good game and when he moved into number 10 was very composed and kicked the vital goals.

“We like to play open rugby we will continue to play open rugby. We wanted to play the game at pace today as Worcester wanted to slow down the game once they had a healthy lead.”