IRELAND and Munster legend Donncha O’Callaghan has been hailed as “outstanding” and “astonishing” after leading Worcester Warriors to a crucial victory in their Aviva Premiership survival bid.

O’Callaghan, who turns 38 next month, was at his abrasive best in Warriors’ remarkable 24-18 triumph against reigning champions Saracens at Sixways.

The lock “earned a huge amount of respect” for his performance, according to Warriors director of rugby Gary Gold.

It was Gold’s first Premiership match in charge of Warriors and he chose the “international war horse” to skipper his side “into battle” against the European champions.

Fly-half Ryan Mills was also instrumental in the win, kicking 24 points in a new individual Premiership record points tally for a Worcester player.

“Donncha was outstanding and seemed to have a cool head and the players followed him into battle,” said Gold.

“It was an astonishing performance and it’s great to see a travelled veteran like Donncha want to make a difference. He earned a huge amount of respect.

“He wears his heart on his sleeve and follows up what he says he is going to do with his performances.

“Donncha was outstanding in his captaincy and led from the front and played like the international war horse he is.”

O’Callaghan has been frustrated at times this season. He was left out of Carl Hogg’s first Premiership squad in September when Warriors were thrashed 35-3 by Sarries at Twickenham.

The Cork-born forward was also omitted from Warriors’ squad for their 28-20 defeat at relegation rivals Bristol on Boxing Day.

O’Callaghan drew plenty of praise on social media from Worcester supporters for going across to the East Stand and revving up the crowd after he was substituted in the dying minutes.

“The crowd were absolutely amazing,” said Gold.

“To hear the chants of Warriors was fantastic and you could see Donncha (interact with the fans) when he came off and how much it meant to him.

“The guys spoke about the crowd at half-time. As rugby players there’s a responsibility to your supporters.

“We are not going to win every game and you can’t win every one but we have got to be in the fight for every match.”

The win has lifted second-from-bottom Warriors five points clear of basement boys Bristol who were crushed 42-8 by Harlequins on Friday night.

But Warriors face another stern test on Saturday when high-flying Exeter Chiefs visit Sixways (3pm).

Warriors will be keen to avenge a 57-22 battering at Sandy Park in November.

And Gold is urging Warriors’ players and fans to keep their “feet on the ground” as they prepare for a “similar onslaught” against Chiefs.

“The win will prove to the guys we can do it but we have to be able to keep our feet on the ground,” said Gold.

“Sarries had a lot of people away. We need to stay humble and we know what a great team Exeter are.

“Exeter have not lost too many players (to the Six Nations) and are still a form team and somehow we will have to find it in ourselves to prepare to have a similar onslaught.”

He added: “You don’t want one-off performances.

“You want to be able to train in a manner where you are able to repeat a performance like this.

“There are a lot of very good teams in the Premiership and we still have to play a lot of them. The Premiership will bite you on the backside pretty quickly if you get ahead of yourselves.”