EXCITING centre Andy Symons is set to make his first start in the Aviva Premiership as Worcester Warriors take on leaders Saracens at Sixways tomorrow (Saturday, 3pm).
The 22-year-old made his league debut when he came off the bench during the latter stages of Warriors’ clash against Gloucester last Sunday.
His appearance follows impressive showings in the LV=Cup, which has encouraged director of rugby Dean Ryan to throw Symons on from the start.
The other notable change sees Leonardo Senatore come in at number eight in place of skipper Jonathan Thomas who picked up an injury at Kingsholm.
Chris Pennell will captain the side, while Semisi Taulava could make his first appearance since October after being named among the replacements.
Despite the differences in form, with Saracens flying high at the top of the table and Warriors still without a league victory, Ryan said he was “optimistic” about his team’s chances.
“We recognise that Saracens are a good side and we recognise they’ve got some good players,” he said. “But we also recognise that we’ve become a pretty strong group. Each time we’ve got something to teach ourselves and we are competitive every week.
“You learn a lot about people when you find yourself in these situations and I think we’ve conducted ourselves with a huge amount of credit.
“I’m optimistic every time this group represent themselves in the right way.
They’ve done it against Northampton, they’ve done it against Bath and they’ve done it twice against Biarritz. That makes me optimistic ahead of the New Year.”
Warriors’ side to face Saracens: Pennell (c), Stephenson, Grove, Symons, Drauniniu, Mieres, Su’a, Fainga’anuku, Brooker, O’Donnell, Percival, Galarza, De Carpentier, Betty, Senatore
Replacements: Seymour, Becasseau, Andress, Jones, Taulava, Hodgson, Warwick, Fatiaki