We're all off to Worcester...

By Rupes
September 15 2005

This Saturday sees Saracens head off to Sixways, home of the unbeaten Worcester Warriors and, allegedly, some of the best pasties in the league. Having taken 5 points last Sunday, Saracens will be looking to maintain the level of performance they showed in the first hour against Leeds.

Both last week’s victory over Leeds Tykes and the “A” victory on Monday evening were characterised by the desire of the Saracens teams to get quick ball and move it wide as soon as possible. Against Worcester, this is a must – getting caught up in a forwards battle, regardless of how good our much vaunted pack are, is not an option. The Worcester forwards are likely to scrap all afternoon for possession, they scrummage pretty well and it is not a battle we should consider getting into. Sure, make our mark early up front, but let TC and the rest of the backs move the ball at pace as often as possible. Execution has let the team down in the past, but the signs were against Leeds that this problem is quickly being eradicated as the season rolls into life.

The published Saracens team shows 2 changes from last week; Shane Byrne makes his first start and Paul Bailey comes on to the wing following his try-scoring performance for the “A” team on Monday evening. Matt Cairns drops to the bench, where he is joined by debutant centre Adam Powell – again, a try scorer for the “A” team on Monday evening and who showed a good turn of pace. No doubt, it is a solid team. The props will continue in their quest to send every front row in the GP upwards at least once or twice this season and it is to be hoped that Ben Skirving continues his impressive start to the season.

For Worcester, they have selected Drew Hickey to play at number 8 following his brush with justice earlier this week; no doubt, his presence will be a big boost to an already impressive pack, Pat Sanderson vs Alex Sanderson just one of the intriguing battles up front. And then there’s Shane Drahm – the ex-Northampton Saint makes his first start for the Warriors, I’d imagine keen to showcase his talents to the home crowd for the entire 80 minutes rather than appearing as a substitute as he did against Gloucester. Also of interest for Sarries fans is Nicolas Le Roux, debuting for the Warriors having appeared for Brive last season in the European Challenge Cup. He replaces Thinus Delport, who always strikes me as one of these players who promises lots but, somehow, always just falls short of delivering to his true ability; Le Roux, like Drahm, will be looking for an outstanding 80 minutes to cement his place.

Last season, Worcester exceeded even their own expectations – I don’t think even the most ardent of Warriors’ fans would have predicted in September that they would reach the late, lamented Wild Card Play Offs. That evening, they lost at Vicarage Road 28-10. That was the biggest gap between the two sides last season, 1 point and 6 points being in Saracens’ favour both times. I predict it to be another tight encounter, possibly another 1 pointer, with Saracens being the victors if they play as they did in the first hour against the Tykes.

Saracens: 1 Kevin Yates, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Kris Chesney, 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 6 Alex Sanderson, 7 David Seymour, 8 Ben Skirving, 9 Alan Dickens, 10 Glen Jackson, 11 Paul Bailey, 12 Kevin Sorrell, 13 Thomas Castaignede, 14 Richard Haughton, 15 Dan Scarbrough.
Replacements:16 Matt Cairns, 17 Nick Lloyd, 18 Simon Raiwalui, 19 Taine Randell, 20 Ben Broster, 21 Mosese Rauluni, 22 Adam Powell.

Worcester Warriors: 1 Tony Windo, 2 Andre van Niekerk, 3 Chris Horsman, 4 Phil Murphy, 5 Craig Gillies, 6 Siaosi Valli, 7 Pat Sanderson, 8 Drew Hickey, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 10 Shane Drahm, 11 Ben Hinshelwood, 12 Thomas Lombard, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 14 Jonny Hylton, 15 Nicolas Le Roux.
Replacements: 16 Tevita Taumoepeau, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Tim Collier, 19 Kai Horstmann, 20 Matt Powell, 21 Gary Trueman, 22 Thinus Delport.

Referee : Dave Pearson.