A LACK of precision at “crucial times” cost Worcester Warriors in their 26-12 Aviva Premiership defeat to Wasps, according to stand-in skipper Dewald Potgieter.

The South African flanker admitted he was “quite surprised” to be handed the Worcester captaincy for the first time in yesterday's West Midlands derby.

“It was a weird feeling walking from the field after the result (against Wasps),” said Potgieter, 29.

“I thought the energy and intent was there and everybody at the stadium could feel that and sometimes it’s good enough to win you a game.

“Sometimes you need to be more precise and I thought we lacked some precision at crucial times.

“Against a side like Wasps you need everything so you can walk away with a win even if it’s in your own back yard.

“So many times it felt like we needed one more phase of keeping the ball and someone would walk over in the corner.

“You prepare all week and to concede an intercept try in the few seconds the whole game-plan changes.”

Warriors’ line-out functioned poorly throughout the match – they lost six set-pieces on their own throw.

And Potgieter, who has won six Test caps for the Springboks, said  confidence in that facet of Warriors’ game seemed to fade.

“You don’t just lose the set-piece but you lose the initiative for about three or four minutes afterwards," he said.

"The backs look to us to provide a good platform for them to strike and we’ve got some of the most exciting backs in the league.

“When you start to lose confidence in your own set-piece, sometimes some guys take it upon themselves to try to solve it.

“It felt to me that with a little bit of line-out accuracy and initiative we could potentially have been looking at a different result."

The back row felt Warriors' overall display was an improvement from their dismal 57-22 defeat at Exeter Chiefs the previous weekend.

“After we were convincingly beaten by Exeter it was tough to put any positive spin on that,” he said.

“We feel like we are much better than the results suggest and we are well aware we are not the luckiest team in the league so far.

“But those are the cards we have been dealt with and you also want to be mindful of not falling into the trap of celebrating glorious defeats.

“At the end of the day, rugby is about winning and that’s the culture we need to be chasing and that’s very much the part of our journey.”

Potgieter arrived at Sixways from Japanese outfit Yamaha Jubilo in February but a shoulder injury the following month at Newcastle Falcons ruled him out for the remainder of his maiden campaign.

The flanker then hurt his thigh in pre-season, which also needed surgery, and he returned to action in Warriors’ Premiership defeat at Harlequins at the end of October.

"I love being out there again,” said Potgieter, who took over the captaincy from Phil Dowson.

“It’s a lot better than spending eight months at home every weekend – that's not taking anything away from the wife - but it’s much nicer to be out on the field.

“I was quite surprised when Hoggy (head coach Carl Hogg) asked me to be captain.

“All you can ask is for guys to respond and that’s exactly what I got and Phil has been supportive as well."

He added: "We gave away a few penalties at times when we could have been a bit more disciplined.

"When you ask for energy and intent you ask guys to push the boundaries and sometimes penalties are part of the game.”