WORCESTER Warriors name an unchanged starting 15 as they return to Aviva Premiership action against Wasps in the West Midlands derby at the Ricoh Arena on Sunday (2.30pm).
Having beaten Bristol in their last outing, Gary Gold’s men will be looking to put further space between them and their relegation rivals when they battle Dai Young’s Wasps, who sit pretty at the top of table.
Chris Pennell, Bryce Heem and Josh Adams form the Warriors back three with the latter having scored twice at the Ricoh Arena in an Anglo-Welsh Cup clash between the sides in November.
Jackson Willison and Wynand Olivier team up in the centre, while Francois Hougaard and Ryan Mills form the half-back combination again for the sixth consecutive game.
In the pack, Val Rapava Ruskin, Joe Taufete’e and Nick Schonert complete a powerful front row, backed up by mammoth lock Will Spencer and skipper Donncha O’Callaghan, who celebrates his 38th birthday today.
Chris Vui, Sam Lewis and Marco Mama keep their spots in the back row.
In the replacements, Jaba Bregvadze returns after international duty with Georgia.
Phil Dowson is recalled to the squad as a second back row replacement with Dewald Potgieter also on the bench.
Dean Hammond is also back in the side following his return from injury, and he and Ryan Lamb could both make their 50th Warriors appearances should they feature.
James Haskell returns from England’s 6 Nations winning campaign to start on the blindside flank for Wasps.
Matt Mullan also included among the replacements.
Joe Launchbury, Elliot Daly, Nathan Hughes and Tommy Taylor are rested after playing a large amount of rugby in recent weeks, for England and Wasps respectively.
Ashley Johnson once again captains the side from hooker, joined in the front row by Simon McIntyre and Marty Moore.
Will Rowlands and Kearnan Myall pack down at lock, with Haskell joined by Thomas Young and Alex Rieder in the back row.
Guy Thompson makes his return from a thumb injury, which has sidelined him since January, to take a spot amongst the replacements.
In the backline, Kurtley Beale starts at full-back, with Christian Wade and Willie Le Roux on the wings.
In the centres, Jimmy Gopperth and Alapati Leiua combine once again, while Danny Cipriani and Dan Robson pair up as half backs, with Robson set to make his 100th Premiership appearance.
Warriors:
15 Chris Pennell
14 Bryce Heem
13 Wynand Olivier
12 Jackson Willison
11 Josh Adams
10 Ryan Mills
9 Francois Hougaard
1 Val Rapava Ruskin
2 Joe Taufete’e
3 Nick Schonert
4 Donncha O’Callaghan (c)
5 Will Spencer
6 Chris Vui
7 Sam Lewis
8 Marco Mama
Replacements:
16 Jaba Bregvadze
17 Ryan Bower
18 Biyi Alo
19 Phil Dowson
20 Dewald Potgieter
21 Luke Baldwin
22 Ryan Lamb
23 Dean Hammond
Wasps
15 Kurtley Beale
14 Christian Wade
13 Alapati Leiua
12 Jimmy Gopperth
11 Willie Le Roux
10 Danny Cipriani
9 Dan Robson
1 Simon McIntyre
2 Ashley Johnson (c)
3 Marty Moore
4 Will Rowlands
5 Kearnan Myall
6 James Haskell
7 Thomas Young
8 Alex Rieder
Replacements:
16 Tom Cruse
17 Matt Mullan
18 Jake Cooper-Woolley
19 Matt Symons
20 Guy Thompson
21 Joe Simpson
22 Brendan Macken
23 Josh Bassett
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