Richard Hill has revealed plans to call-up Joe Carlisle, Dale Rasmussen and Tom Arscott to give his Warriors extra firepower in the must-win British & Irish Cup game with Plymouth Albion at Sixways on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).
Head Coach Hill travelled to Dublin last weekend to watch his Warriors suffer a first defeat of the cup competition against Leinster.
The Sixways boss admits his team must now look to win the remaining cup games with Plymouth, Currie and Cornish Pirates to claim a top two position in Pool A and quarter-final spot.
And he will give the Worcester backs some extra cutting edge with Carlisle – who produced a stunning show in the cup opener with Newport – hard running centre Rasmussen and flying wing Arscott all given the nod.
“I have strengthened the team for this weekend,” said Hill. “Joe Carlisle will play at ten and I think it is only fair to Willie Walker to give him a chance to play at full back, in his rightful position, behind a ten that has been used to running the game.
“I will also add Dale Rasmussen in the centre and Tom Arscott on the wing. That will give us some extra firepower.
“I was pleased with the forwards against Leinster. They certainly dominated the scrum, in my view, won all the lineout ball and were very good around the field.
“We thought at half-time in Ireland, leading 15-10, that we might get a result. Leinster were taking it very seriously and had a good side out. But we lost and now need to win the last three – we are quite capable of doing that.
“We just need a bit more cutting edge in the backs. I hope by strengthening them we will produce some good tries from the work the forwards do.”
Hill was full of praise for the manner in which the pack performed in Ireland and also backed Alex Grove to settle back into life at Sixways in the coming weeks.
“In Ireland I was looking to see if those players that have not been in the front line 22 have got the ability to step up into the first team,” said Hill.
“There is nothing worse than going to watch and game and coming away thinking that there was nobody there that is threatening anyone in the first team squad. But, for me, there were a lot of good individual performances.
“Callum Black, Ed Shervington and Tevita Taumoepeau worked hard, Will Bowley had one of the best games he had produced and Matt Kvesic and Adam Balding were strong. There were a lot of plus points – particularly in the forwards – which is going to increase the competition on the others.
“Alex Grove has been lacking a bit of match practice, but for a first go he was good,” added Hill. “He has got a lot of things to get right, in terms of understanding the strategy, so it will take him two or three more games to settle him into it.
“He worked really hard and tried to produce a very good performance, but of course we play slightly different way to Edinburgh and he needs to fit into that system. He is very keen, willing to learn, has a great attitude and I’m sure with two or three more games under his belt he will slot into the squad very well.”
Tickets remain on sale for the Warriors versus Plymouth cup clash at Sixways this Saturday. Call the Warriors Box Office on 01905 454183 or click on the Tickets section at www.warriors.co.uk