Young Warriors to start 'important game'
Back row ace Jake Abbott and prop Callum Black are awarded their first Guinness Premiership starts of the season as Worcester Warriors travel to face Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park on Sunday.
Academy product Abbott is rewarded for a number of eye catching displays in recent weeks and will play at openside flank as skipper Pat Sanderson moves to No.8.
Front row star Black will pack down with hooker Aleki Lutui and Tevita Taumoepeau, who has passed a fitness test to start the game in the north east.
“I was disappointed with the performance up front last week – the players are aware of that,” said Director of Rugby Mike Ruddock.
“Because of that I’ve made some changes to the forward pack with Callum and Jake rewarded for their good form with deserved starts against Newcastle.
“This is a very important game for us and we have a big focus on it,” added Ruddock.
“Newcastle had a great win at Bath. They will have chests puffed out and they will be walking around happy with themselves and rightly so, to get a bonus point win away at Bath is a fantastic result.
“They will fancy their chances and will look to push the ball around and play some attractive rugby.”
Newcastle Falcons have made two changes to their side ahead of Sunday’s match.
Fit-again fullback Alex Tait returns to the side after two weeks out with an ankle injury, with a back line reshuffle seeing two-try hero Charlie Amesbury moved to the left wing.
The only other change to the side comes at No.8, where Samoan international Filipo Levi returns after the bout of gastroenteritis which ruled him out of last Saturday’s 26-17 win at Bath.
Looking ahead to the game, Falcons Director of Rugby Steve Bates said: “The result down at Bath was very positive for the boys, I thought they deserved it and they played really well on the day.
“It was an important step forward for us which has given the players a real lift, but we have another huge test this Sunday and no complacency will be allowed to set in.
“The players have always believed that they are capable of taking on anyone in this league, and so I’m pleased for them more than anything that they have finally delivered the sort of performance which we know they can.
“They’re not getting out of control about it though, and if you put it into context it’s still just one game. We expect those levels to be repeated on a regular basis, and the way we do that is through working hard, providing the sort of platform that we had last weekend and making the right decisions when we have the ball.
“I thought we prepared really well for both the Bath and Albi games, we have repeated that during the week ahead of Worcester but we know we still have to earn the right to play.
“The boys are in a great frame of mind at the moment, and what we need to do is replicate the work ethic and attitude from our previous two outings. If we relax and allow our focus to slip then we are back to square one again, and we know that Worcester are in exactly the same position.”
The teams:
Newcastle: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Danny Williams, 13 Rob Vickerman, 12 Tane Tu’ipulotu, 11 Charlie Amesbury, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Micky Young, 8 Filipo Levi, 7 Will Welch, 6 Brent Wilson, 5 Mark Sorenson, 4 James Hudson, 3 Carl Hayman (captain), 2 Rob Vickers, 1 Jon Golding.
Replacements: 16 Alex Walker, 17 Laurence Ovens, 18 Micky Ward, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Josh Afu, 21 Hall Charlton, 22 Rob Miller, 23 Gcobani Bobo.
Worcester: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Willie Walker, 9 Ryan Powell, 8 Pat Sanderson (captain), 7 Jake Abbott, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Craig Gillies, 4 Greg Rawlinson, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Callum Black.
Replacements: 16 Adam Black, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Will Bowley, 20 Netani Talei, 21 Jonny Arr, 22 George Crook, 23 Calum MacRae.
Date: Sunday, November 1
Time: 15.00 (15.00 GMT)
Venue: Kingston Park
Referee: Sean Davey
Assistant referees: Martin Buck, Paul Emerson
TMO: Trevor Parlet
