Match Preview: Worcester Warriors vs Bristol Bears

 

The Bristol Bears will play Worcester Warriors on Friday 20h00 at Sixways, Worcester. The Bristol Bears are currently at the third position on the log with 48 points while the Warriors are placed at the 10th spot with only 27 log points.

Worcester Warriors only victory in the last ten rounds of Gallagher Premiership Rugby was 29-14 at home to Harlequins on 26 August, that victory ended a run of five straight defeats at Sixways in all tournaments. Bristol Bears have lost their last two Gallagher Premiership Rugby encounters since beating Gloucester 33-24 at Kingsholm on 21 August, their first maximum point victory in Premiership Rugby since round one.

Bristol beat Worcester 13-10 at Ashton Gate in round 11 and have not achieved a Premiership Rugby season’s double over the Warriors since 2006/07 although they did repeat this in the RFU Championship in 2014-15. Bristol has won just twice at Sixways in any competition, in Premiership Rugby in September 2006 and the RFU Championship in April 2015.

Worcester: 15. Melani Nanai, 14. Tom Howe, 13. Ollie Lawrence, 12. Francois Venter, 11. Noah Heward, 10. Duncan Weir, 9. Francois Hougaard, 8. Cornell du Preez, 7. Matt Kvesic, 6. Ted Hill (captain), 5. Graham Kitchener, 4. Anton Bresler, 3. Nick Schonert, 2. Niall Annett, 1. Ethan Waller. Replacements: 16. Isaac Miller, 17. Callum Black, 18. Richard Palframan, 19. Andrew Kitchener, 20. Matt Cox, 21. Gareth Simpson, 22. Billy Searle, 23. Ashley Beck.

Bristol: 15. Charles Piutau, 14. Luke Morahan, 13. Semi Radradra, 12. Siale Piutau, 11. Henry Purdy, 10. Callum Sheedy, 9. Harry Randall, 8. Nathan Hughes, 7. Dan Thomas, 6. Steven Luatua (captain), 5. Chris Vui, 4. Ed Holmes, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 2. Bryan Byrne, 1. Max Lahiff. Replacements: 16. Harry Thacker, 17. Jake Woolmore, 18. John Afoa, 19. Joe Joyce, 20. Ben Earl, 21. Andy Uren, 22. Ioan Lloyd, 23. Piers O’Conor.