Preview: Worcester v Newcastle
Newcastle have made two personnel changes for Friday's Guinness Premiership meeting with Worcester at Sixways Stadium.
Newcastle have made two changes for Friday's Guinness Premiership clash with Worcester at Sixways.
Adam Balding is handed a start against the team he will join in the summer, with a reshuffled back-row seeing Peter Browne shift to blindside as Brent Wilson reverts to the openside.
The only other change to the team comes in the backs, with Rob Vickerman replacing the injured Charlie Amesbury for the fixture.
A reshuffled back-line sees Springbok Gcobani Bobo shift from outside centre to the wing, with Vickerman filling the number thirteen jersey.
“We're expecting a tight game, with two competitive forward packs going at each other,” said Director of Rugby Steve Bates.
“We have the two top points scorers in the Guinness Premiership going head to head in Jimmy Gopperth and Willie Walker, both will undoubtedly have a big role to play and there's every chance it could be a close, exciting game.”
Assessing his side's injury status, the former scrum-half explained: “Filipo Levi misses out with the calf injury he picked up at Northampton, which just wasn't quite ready for this week.
“Charlie Amesbury drops out after taking a knock against London Irish early on, but we feel we have plenty of quality to come in and I'm looking forward to the challenge on Friday.
“Worcester will be keen to bounce back from last weekend's defeat at Bath and to get themselves away from the bottom part of the league, but for ourselves it's just a case of wanting to win another big Guinness Premiership game.
“We approach every single match with the same intent to go out and win, it should be a big battle down there and hopefully one that we can come out on top of.”
Meanwhile, Chris Cracknell has been handed a Warriors starting spot for the Friday fixture.
Sevens ace Cracknell takes the place of Tom Wood and will combine in the back-row with Kai Horstmann and skipper Pat Sanderson who is set to secure another milestone.
Sanderson, who recently made his 200 league appearance, stands on 99 games as captain in the Premiership – only Lawrence Dallaglio (142) and Martin Johnson (132) have skippered more top-flight games.
Director of Rugby Mike Ruddock also makes one change on the bench as Rico Gear replaces Alex Grove, with the centre in action for Scotland A against Italy on the same night.
“We have got five home matches left out of our total of eight games to play – we really need to make home advantage count,” said Ruddock.
“Newcastle have had a good season to date and Carl Hayman has really galvanised their pack, they have become an extremely difficult unit to play against.
“However, we will look to take them on and not let them dominate up front, in particular the scrum. It will take a solid all-round game for us with a good mix to gain a result, but we are confident we will produce that in what is a big game for the Warriors.”
Form: Neither side has yet managed to record a Premiership double over the other in the same season. Worcester Warriors are without a win in their last ten matches in the Guinness Premiership – a sequence which has included four draws! Newcastle also recorded a 4th draw of the Premiership season at home to London Irish on Saturday, whilst their most recent victory in the competition was 12-6 at London Wasps on 3 January. Worcester have already beaten Newcastle at Sixways this season: 32-6 in the LV= Cup on 7 November. The Falcons took the Guinness Premiership encounter the previous week with a 14-3 win at Kingston Park.
The teams:
Worcester: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Chris Pennell, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Willie Walker, 9 Johnny Arr, 8 Kai Horstmann, 7 Pat Sanderson, 6 Chris Cracknell, 5 Craig Gillies, 4 Rob Rawlinson, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Adam Black.
Replacements: 16 Matt Mullan, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Olivier Sourgens, 19 Graham Kitchener, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Ryan Powell, 22 Matthew Jones, 23 Rico Gear.
Newcastle: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Danny Williams, 13 Rob Vickerman, 12 Tane Tu'ipulotu, 11 Gcobani Bobo, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Micky Young, 8 Adam Balding, 7 Brent Wilson, 6 Peter Browne, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 James Hudson, 3 Carl Hayman (capt), 2 Rob Vickers, 1 Jon Golding.
Replacements: 16 Alex Walker, 17 Micky Ward, 18 Grant Shiells, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Will Welch, 21 Hall Charlton, 22 Rob Miller, 23 Tom Biggs.
Date: Friday, February 27
Kick-off: 20:00
Venue: Sixways Stadium
Referee: Chris White
Assistant referees: Bruce Robertson, Peter Huckle
Television match official: Laurie Bryant