Bowley handed start for London Irish test

Warriors Director of Rugby John Brain has made seven changes to his starting line-up for the clash with London Irish at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday (3pm kick-off).

Gary Trueman makes his comeback at inside centre to again join forces again with Samoan international Dale Rasmussen and Lee Best in named on the right wing in place of Aisea Havili.
Scrum half Matt Powell returns after missing the narrow defeat to Bristol with an ankle injury and is reunited in the halfback pairing with James Brown who will face his former club.
The front row features two changes with Tony Windo handed a starting shirt at loosehead and Tongan powerhouse hooker Aleki Lutui a first Guinness Premiership start since New Year’s Day.
Will Bowley replaces the suspended Craig Gillies at lock and is joined by Richard Blaze.
Kai Horstmann and Drew Hickey have switched positions in the back row and will team up with skipper Pat Sanderson who is set to feature in his 150th Premiership match. England international Sanderson has so far made 37 appearances for Sale, 65 for Harlequins and 47 for Warriors.
“It is always tough to get an away win and they (Irish) will be focussed on winning their last game at home, they will want to put on a good show in front of their support,” said Brain.
“But I’m confident we can perform well on the weekend and if we do that we will be in with a real chance of winning the game.”

Worcester Warriors team to face London Irish:


01 Tony Windo, 02 Aleki Lutui, 03 Chris Horsman, 04 Will Bowley, 05 Richard Blaze, 06 Drew Hickey, 07 Pat Sanderson (c), 08 Kai Horstmann, 09 Matt Powell, 10 James Brown, 11 Thinus Delport, 12 Gary Trueman, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 14 Lee Best, 15 Shane Drahm


Replacements: 16 Darren Morris, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Tevita Taumoepeau, 19 Phil Murphy, 20 Gavin Quinnell, 21 Nick Runciman, 22 Mark Tucker


 

Coral.co.uk, the official betting and gaming partner of the Guinness Premiership are offering a free £10 bet on your team this weekend when you open an account plus you could earn your club up to £10 cash back in return.


Coral.co.uk, official betting and gaming partner of the Guinness Premiership price London Irish at 8 to 15 favourites to win their match this weekend against Worcester Warriors. A win for the Warriors would pile further pressure on Northampton Saints at the foot of the Guinness premiership table and are 6 to 4 favorites to defeat Irish. Worcester’s only previous win at Madejski Stadium came on 11 September 2005 with a 20-15 victory, whilst London Irish have won the last two encounters between the two.


London Irish 8 to 15


Worcester 6 to 4


Draw 18 to 1


Handicap betting


London Irish v Worcester (+5 points)


To place a bet on this game please visit www.coral.co.uk/rugby for all the betting odds as well as all other Guinness Premiership matches this weekend.  Plus open a new account and win a £10 FREE BET and for Coral.co.uk will match that and provide your favourite Guinness Premiership club with £10 for every account opened.



 


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