DIRECTOR of rugby Dean Ryan is challenging Worcester Warriors’ pack to compete for the full 80 minutes of their Premiership shoot-out against Bristol at Sixways tomorrow (7.45pm).

Warriors’ forwards dominated the set-piece as Bristol props Gaston Cortes and Anthony Perenise were sinbinned in the first-half of their Championship play-off final first leg at Ashton Gate.

But Bristol’s pack fought their way back after the interval, bossing territory and having the upper hand in the scrum as the clock ran down.

Niall Annett’s last-gasp try, converted by Ryan Lamb, gave Warriors a 29-28 success.

Worcester head into a sellout second leg, being refereed by JP Doyle, with a onepoint advantage.

“We have to make sure we are as strong in the final 20 minutes as we are in the first 20,” said Ryan.

“Bristol are a decent outfit and they probably got on top of us at the end.

“We selected a pack to be able to dominate and I think they went and did the job.

But this tie is going to go a full 80 minutes and we probably have to be better than we were.

“We need that sort of dominance again and be able to maintain it.

“When you look at the spread of Bristol’s props they probably didn’t play as much game-time and then had an extra 10 to 15 minutes with their first-choice guys at the end.

“We were pretty out on our feet towards the end and that’s something we have got to be better at.”

While Bristol lost centre Gavin Henson (broken shin) and forward Ryan Jones (shoulder), Ryan said Warriors had suffered bumps in a bruising contest.

Ryan said he wasn’t sure whether centre Max Stelling (hamstring) would be ready to return after a month on the sidelines.

He added: “The intensity of the first leg was as high as this group has played at and we have to make sure we can back it up and go even further to clinch the prize.”