'Pocket Rocket' to tame Saints?
The Worcester Warriors’ very own ‘Pocket Rocket’, inside centre Sam Tuitupou, has been named in the No.12 shirt for Saturday’s Guinness Premiership match against the travelling Northampton Saints.
The Saints, one of the Premiership’s form teams this season, will make the trip to Sixways with some confidence – and deservedly so.
But the presence of the tough-tackling Tuitupou (who has recovered from illness) will serve as a warning sign for Jim Mallinder’s troops that they cannot take things lightly come the weekend.
Tuitupou’s return, however, is not the only big news for the home side who also welcome back Wallabies legend Chris Latham at No.15, whilst Willie Walker and Jonny Arr will combine at halfback for the Warriors.
“It’s a massive game,” said Worcester Director of Rugby Mike Ruddock. “We have got a block of three coming up and we have planned our preparation to make sure we have guys fresh for these games.
“We haven’t got any excuses for not going out and giving it our best shot. Players heads seem to be on big time, I have spoken to a number who are comfortable where they are at and the fact that we are able to train well in the Indoor Centre.
“It is going to be such a tough game, but we have competed well in recent times with the top two teams in the Guinness Premiership,” he added.
The Saints, meanwhile, will once again be captained by England hooker Dylan Hartley, whilst the selection of Stephen Myler in the No.10 shirt – ahead of England inside back Shane Geraghty – indicates, perhaps, that Northampton will play more of a percentage game at Sixways.
Said Saints boss Jim Mallinder: “We were happy with the win in Treviso [last week], but not so happy with the performance.
“We made far too many mistakes and did not impose ourselves enough on Treviso. It certainly was not a good enough performance to win at somewhere like Worcester and every aspect of our play will have to improve on Saturday.”
It has been a tough week for most teams in the Guinness Premiership this week, with the inclement weather causing plenty of problems on the training ground.
Mallinder, however, was in no mood to make excuses, adding: “We have not let the snow affect our training schedule this week. Everyone has reacted positively to the feedback from the game in Italy and has worked hard to earn selection for Saturday’s match.”
The teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Willie Walker, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Kai Horstmann, 7 Pat Sanderson (captain), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Craig Gillies, 4 Greg Rawlinson, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Adam Black.
Replacements: 16 Matt Mullan, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Olivier Sourgens, 19 Graham Kitchener, 20 James Collins, 21 Ryan Powell, 22 Matthew Jones, 23 Dale Rasmussen.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Phil Dowson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Soane Tonga’uiha.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Jon Vickers, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Christian Day, 20 Neil Best, 21 Alan Dickens, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Chris Mayor.
Date: Saturday, December 26
Venue: Sixways
Kick-off: 16.15
Referee: Chris White
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle, Paul Dix
Television match official: Andrew Turner
