Worcester's hopes of finishing their first season in the top flight with some silverware were crushed by Auch in a one-sided European Shield final at the Kassam Stadium.

Director of rugby John Brain had admitted winning the Shield was low on Worcester's list of priorities and his lack of enthusiasm was reflected by his team who produced one of their worst performances of the season.

Several front line players were rested for the match - including inspirational skipper Pat Sanderson - and the move backfired as the Warriors were swatted aside by a side who have already been relegated from the French championship.

But with the crucial matter of their Zurich Premiership status already guaranteed for another season, today's trip to Oxford was little more than an sideshow for the Sixways outfit.

It was a disappointing way for Daren O'Leary to mark his last appearance for the club but his second half try will have gone some way to easing the disappointment, while the boot of Tommy Hayes supplied the rest of Worcester's points.

Raphael Bastide and Gregory Patat crossed for Auch but their hero of the day was Jean-Baptiste Dambielle whose precision kicking - he missed just one of his six shots at goal - kept the scoreboard ticking over.

The full-back's boot was required for conversion duty after just two minutes when Auch worked the ball through several pairs of hand before reaching winger Raphael Bastide who strolled over.

Worcester could feel slightly aggrieved with at least one of the passes in the move looking forward but their own sloppy defending contributed to the score and full back Jean-Baptiste Dambielle rubbed salt into the wound by adding the conversion.

Tommy Hayes replied with a penalty but Auch added a second try in the 13th minute when they wheeled a five metre scrum towards the blindside before number eight Gregory Patat slipped over.

Dambielle was presented with another tricky conversion but once again he sent it through the middle of the uprights and when he sent over a penalty shortly after, Worcester were staring down the barrel of a 17-3 deficit with just 15 minutes on the clock.

The Warriors staged a promising attack with winger Jonny Hylton beating two men before his 30-yard run was brought to a halt with his side unable to make any further headway when the ball was recycled.

They won a kickable penalty which was hoofed into touch and two line-outs later their pack had rumbled within five metres of the Auch line only for the French club to escape by infringing once again.

Worcester could do little with the penalty but they maintained the pressure, eventually winning another shot at goal which Hayes missed despite it being a simple opportunity.

In contrast the impressive Dambielle bisected the posts with a long range kick shortly after, giving Auch a 20-3 lead the misfiring Warriors looked ill-equipped to overcome.

Hayes started the second half with a stunning break which finally gave Worcester fans something to cheer but he then slipped and knocked on to bring a promising raid to a premature conclusion.

The Warriors' scrum was beginning to buckle alarmingly - their lack of tightheads meant Steve Sparks was pressed into action at number three and Auch were taking full advantage.

One set piece preceeded a sustained assault on Worcester's line and then the Premiership club conceded a penalty at a second which Dambielle nudged over to give Auch a 23-3 lead going into the final quarter.

Worcester finished with a flourish and eventually crossed in the 72nd minute through O'Leary with hooker Ben Daly supplying the scoring pass, but the outcome had long since been decided thanks to Auch's storming first half.