Worcester Warriors v Exeter Chiefs Premiership Preview

Worcester Warriors have named GJ van Velze in their team to play Exeter Chiefs in the Aviva Premiership at Sixways on Sunday.

Van Velze will make his first Aviva Premiership appearance since late November when he runs on to the field as captain.

The South African is one of six changes to the starting 15 that pushed Wasps earlier this month, with the welcome return of winger Bryce Heem, who recently got married back in his native New Zealand.

Flanker Marco Mama signed a deal this week to join Warriors on a permanent basis at the end of the season, and will partner Van Velze and the experienced Phil Dowson in the back row.

Scrum-half Luke Baldwin is rewarded for his displays in Europe with a starting berth, while stand-off Tom Heathcote and lock Darren Barry come back into the side after knocks.

New signing James Johnston is among the replacements and could be set for his Warriors debut, while Dean Hammond is also named on the bench after signing a new deal with the Club earlier this week.

Director of Rugby Dean Ryan said: “There are guys that have put their hands up in Europe and are on the periphery of the first-team and now we head into a big group of league games it’s vital to have that.

“This next patch of games is crucial and will define the season, where we are as a group, the success of the individuals here and the Club as a whole.

“I’m a big admirer of what Exeter have done. They’re going well in the league and are into the European quarter-finals.

“They maintain performances week in week out and are genuine Premiership title contenders. Therefore they are a serious threat for us to try and get a result against.”

Worcester Warriors have lost their last ten first team matches since beating La Rochelle at Sixways in round 1 of the European Challenge Cup.

The Warriors have not gained a victory in Aviva Premiership Rugby since they overcame Newcastle in round 4.

Exeter Chiefs are Aviva Premiership Rugby’s top try scorers this season with 30, and have lost just one of their last eight encounters in the tournament: 3-8 at Northampton on New Year’s Day.

Exeter have won all six previous Premiership rugby encounters against the Warriors whilst Worcester’s most recent victory over the Chiefs in any competition came in March 2004 at the old County Ground in National League One.

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter says that he has been impressed by Worcester and says nothing less than a top-class performance will do from his players ahead of kick-off.

“We have looked at Worcester a lot recently and people will be aware there have been quite a few tight losses for them,” said Baxter. “I quite like what they have done there. I look at their games and a lot of what they do is very good and well structured. They have laid some good foundations and I think that is what makes them a side that is in every game they play.

“We were very similar to that when we first came up because if we didn’t win a game, we would look to fight to the death and that’s a really good quality to have. Worcester are the team that have come up and are fighting very well, so the pressure is on us to go there and perform very well and get something out of the game.

“I don’t mind telling people it’s one of those fixtures where I am going to be sat there on Sunday wondering what mindset we are going to turn up in. We know we have got to get things right because it’s not going to be one of those games where we can just turn up, go through the motions and everything will be okay. Premiership rugby against good sides doesn’t work like that.

“If we start thinking that our system of attack and our system of defence will come over the top of them, it simply doesn’t work like that. Players make systems work and the intensity of how they play. so that’s what we have to focus on.”

Baxter has, however, been buoyed by the fact that certain players are available for the trip. Luke Cowan-Dickie and Sam Hill, both of whom have been training with England this week, both return on the bench, while internationals Tomas Francis and Michele Campagnaro both start despite reporting for Six Nations camps at the start of the week.

Also included for his first-ever Premiership start is young lock Jonny Hill, who impressed massively in last weekend’s win over the Ospreys. He will pack down alongside the experienced Geoff Parling, who has recovered from a nasty head wound sustained in the same game. Also back into the starting XV come scrum-half Will Chudley and flanker Julian Salvi.

Match : Worcester Warriors v Exeter Chiefs
Date : Sunday 31 January
Venue : Sixways,
Kick Off : 3pm
Live on: BT Sport
Match Officials
Referee :Craig Maxwell-Keys (10th Premiership game).
Assistant Referees: Peter Allan & Roger Baileff.
TMO: Sean Davey.

Teams

Warriors

15 Chris Pennell , 14 Bryce Heem , 13 Wynand Olivier , 12 Ryan Mills , 11 Cooper Vuna , 10 Tom Heathcote , 9 Luke Baldwin , 1 Na’ama Leleimalefaga , 2 Niall Annett , 3 Nick Schonert , 4 Donncha O’Callaghan , 5 Darren Barry , 6 Phil Dowson , 7 Marco Mama , 8 GJ van Velze (C)

Replacements : 16 Ben Sowrey , 17 Ryan Bower , 19 James Johnston , 19 Tevita Cavubati , 20 Matt Cox , 21 Charlie Mulchrone , 22 Andy Symons , 23 Dean Hammond

Exeter Chiefs

15 Phil Dollman , 14 Olly Woodburn , 13 Michele Campanaro , 12 Ian Whitten , 11 James Short , 10 Gareth Steenson , 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi , 6 Don Armand , 5 Geoff Parling , 4 Jonny Hill , 3 Tomas Francis , 2 Jack Yeandle (capt) ,1 Alec Hepburn

Replacements : 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie , 17 Ben Moon , 18 Alex Brown , 19 Ollie Atkins , 20 Kai Horstmann , 21 Dave Lewis , 22 Will Hooley , 23 Sam Hill