NEW SIGNINGS Cooper Vuna and Sam Lewis are poised to make their Worcester Warriors debuts when they go up against Plymouth Albion at Sixways tomorrow (Saturday).
Flanker Lewis joined Warriors from Ospreys this week, while wing Vuna only flew over from Japan eight days ago having agreed to leave Toshiba Brave Lupus with immediate effect.
But director of rugby Dean Ryan has decided to thrust them straight into his starting line to face Greene King IPA Championship’s basement side.
The pair are also among eight changes made by Ryan to the starting 15 which came back to beat Bedford Blues 32-17 in the last round of fixtures.
Vuna steps in for Tom Biggs while Ben Howard shifts to the other wing in place of Sam Smith and England international Chris Pennell returns at full-back.
Charlie Mulchrone replaces Jonny Arr at scrum-half while Ryan has shuffled his forward pack, with Val Rapava Ruskin and Agustin Creevy returning to partner Nick Schonert in the front row.
Jonathan Thomas teams up with Mike Williams in the second-row, while Lewis starts at seven alongside Leonardo Senatore and skipper GJ van Velze at number-eight.
Matt Cox, who has been absent through injury since December, is named among the replacements, which also includes Sam Smith, Ignacio Mieres, Arr, Darren O’Shea, Mike Daniels and Niall Annett.
Ryan said: “Cooper and Lewis have come in and we want to get them out there to play.
“It’s difficult if you arrive at a club and wait a month before you play. The clock is ticking so if we want options we have to get them involved to see where they are.
“We know this is the final push towards the play-offs. We have three or four more weeks of trialling different selections but there isn’t a huge amount we don’t know now.
“There are still places up for grabs in the next few weeks and we have a B&I Cup coming up next Friday.
“Plymouth are starting to climb back up. They have a lot of guys desperate to do well. That makes them a dangerous side but we’re aware of the threats and as normal most of the responsibility sits on ourselves.”
Warriors’ side to face Plymouth Albion:
Pennell, Howard, Stelling, Symons, Vuna, Mills, Mulchrone, Rapava Ruskin, Creevy, Schonert, Williams, Thomas, Senatore, Lewis, Van Velze (C)
Replacements: Annett, Daniels, O’Shea, Cox, Arr, Mieres, Smith