Scotland international Duncan Weir missed a last-gasp drop-goal to send Worcester to their fifth straight league defeat by Wasps in a thrilling Gallagher Premiership opener at Sixways.
A dramatic finish saw Wasps' third choice fly-half Billy Searle land three penalties and a conversion as lock Joe Launchbury and replacement Tommy Taylor brought them back from a 13-0 half-time deficit.
Weir had booted two penalties and converted tries from centre Ryan Mills and flanker Sam Lewis prior to his missed game clincher in the 21-20 defeat.
Indeed, debutant Weir took little time to find his feet as he put Worcester into a 6-0 lead inside nine minutes.
It was a glorious first half from Worcester, who were given a 35-3 roasting on the opening day of last season's Premiership at Saracens.
Wasps were sluggish but nearly grabbed a try when England number eight Nathan Hughes came within an inch of the line only to turn the ball over.
Worcester advanced into the Wasps 22 and, from a scrum near the line, scrum-half Francois Hougaard fed Mills to power home, Weir adding the extras.
Wasps tried to hit back as they put the home side under pressure but solid defence saw last season's Premiership play-off semi-finalists frustrated.
Worcester, though, began to concede penalties. Searle cracked over a 42-metre penalty for Wasps' first points of the season.
And a couple more kickable penalties saw England ace Elliot Daly miss a chance from the halfway line before Searle landed his second.
Wasps thought they had scored tries either side of half-time but both were ruled out by video ref Stuart Terheege for handling errors.
Yet the visitors would not be denied and they made Worcester pay for flanker Alaforti Faosilva's high tackle, that earned him a yellow card, when Launchbury picked up a loose ball two metres out and drove over for a converted try.
That levelled the score but it did not stay that way as Lewis burst 20 metres to the Wasps line, with Weir landing the conversion, before scrum-half Dan Robson caught the home defence cold with a quick tap penalty on the touchline to feed Taylor.
He crashed over but Searle's touchline conversion failed, putting Wasps two points down going into the final quarter.
But with minutes left, Worcester infringed 22 metres out for Searle to step up and land his fourth kick and put Wasps in front for the first time.
The drama was not over as Hougaard recovered a kick on the Wasps 22 but, with full-back Chris Pennell screaming for the pass to score, the scrum-half took it himself and was tackled short of the line.
Worcester rucked 10 metres from the Wasps line as the seconds ran out. Weir was fed the ball in front of the posts but sliced it wide as the visitors celebrated.
PA
