The battle lines are drawn and this promises to be quite a match between arguably two of the three form teams in the Premiership.

My last preview of a Worcester v Bath game netted me a British Comedy Award (purchased off an Ant on a Dec or something, and it only cost me 10 quid…urm, I mean the public voted for me). So this time I shall be more diligent and rigorous in my efforts to take ever so seriously this most serious of events. So, rugby stuff; always popular in rugby previews. Shall we start with form?

Worcester have won 7 of their last 10, and have been praised in many quarters for their fluent and almost swashbuckling (yes, you heard) style of rugby. This was demonstrated in their efficient demolition of a substandard Newcastle on the last day of the season. However, Bath have been playing rugby of an equally enterprising nature, as they took apart an equally poor Saracens outfit in much the same manner as Worcester did Newcastle.

An onlooker, whether they are biased or unbiased, has to say this will be a cracker of a match. When the two sides met at Sixways the result was truly epic, as three tries a piece meant the sides were separated by nothing more than a penalty kick at the whistle, after 80 minutes of intense end to end rugby. The rewards will be sweet for whoever turns out the victor. Bath will end their silverware drought, whereas Worcester will break their top flight silverware duck, and get the big carrot, a place in the Heineken cup.

Bath will not be an easy team to turn over. Their performance in the Premiership semi did not seem up to their usual high standards (the performance they put in is merely testament to just how good their best is), however, it has to be argued that Wasps stopped them from playing and just outclassed them anyway. It has to be said though that Bath have not had any silverware in a very long time, and this season must be the year they bring something home, despite having qualified for the Heineken Cup. Having no game to worry about a week after, they will no doubt field a strong side, and come at the Warriors all guns blazing, and it will be Worcester’s job to take it to them.

The Heineken Cup has a reputation as a cruel mistress to those who are not prepared for the rigors that it brings. Northampton, Harlequins, Leeds and to a lesser extent, Bristol will all testify to that. By this, you have made me bring up the thorny issue of squad depth. The recruitment news coming out of the Sixways camp has been decidedly odd over the passed few weeks. The latest party line is that Latham and Luscombe are the sum total of our off season recruitment campaign…making it more of a mid season recruitment campaign really….

In reference to Worcester’s current issues and stand off attitude (see what I did there?), the Joe Strummer award for indecision has to go to Shane ‘Should I stay or should I go?’ Drahm. Shane seems to be enjoying rugby under Ruddock, and also is enjoying his longest spell of good form at the club, which stokes the flames of the thought that maybe if he did stay, he could be a real key member of the squad. He certainly felt the devotion of the fans at the last game of the season. Reputedly he told Mike Ruddock after the game that he was having doubts about moving, and that it was just dawning how much Worcester meant to him. That he spent a great deal of time after the match (latest estimates are four days) going up and down the stands speaking to each fan in turn is testament to this. However, the immediate concern to this is that all of a sudden Mr Drahm has something other than playing rugby on his mind, and in the past that doesn’t seem to have boded well. Hopefully there will have been some synergy between the Duckworth cheque book and Drahm’s agent, and Kubota Spears will decide the wise course of action is to spend that money on someone who does want to play for them. Hopefully also, this will be done by next Sunday, and Shane will have a game which means he doesn’t so much take command of the fly half jersey, as tattoo ‘10’ on his back for the rest of his stay.

The rest of the team sheet sort of writes itself these days. The front row will probably consist of the guile of Windo, the gamesmanship of Horsman, and the Tongan tornado himself. The second row partnership of Gillies and Rawlinson has flourished in every way that he Worcester faithful had hoped, with Craig still imperious in the lineout, and Greg creating a ball carrying option, but only when he isn’t defending against 3 men all on his own around the fringes, and succeeding. The back row gives an element of unpredictability aside from the ever inspirational Pat Sanderson. In no other place does Worcester enjoy such a broad range of talent. For what is going to be an aggressive encounter, the Fijian carrier Netani Talei and the quietly effective Kai Horstmann may well get the nod, with the ever adaptable Drew Hickey covering every position in the back row from the bench.

The other real issue comes in the backs. Whereas Powell and Drahm have established themselves as the first choice half back pairing, there is debate outside of them. Well when I say debate, I obviously exclude the irrepressible Miles Benjamin and the born again Marcel Garvey, and of course the pocket rocket himself, who had a slightly quiet start and then made up for it by being his frankly outrageous best for the last 2 months. Then of course there is Thinus, the hard charging, big hitting, yard making South African, who will, barring injury of course, end his Warriors career at the place he started his English career, Kingsholm.

So when I said the real issue was in the backs I may have been lying. The real issue is at 13. There are two schools of thoughts over the way Worcester should play this position. Some prefer the big hitting, uncompromising Rasmussen, whilst others go for the lithe and active Rico Gear. This issue has divided Worcester fans down the middle recently, and in the spirit of open and fair debate, I will break an unspoken rule of sports writing, and give a good old bit of message board style, bit of prescriptive commentary!

In this writer’s opinion, the best way to take on a team like Bath is to take it to them. You cannot sit back and hope to repel them and take advantage of any mistakes, because as a rule there aren’t many and you are not going to tire them out and still be fresh yourself. To employ an old cliché, attack is the best form of defense. The Bath, Bristol and Newcastle games brought something home to me, and that is the dynamic between the outside backs. The outside centre can be such a creative influence in wide play, and the triumvirate of Miles, Marcel and Rico seems to have developed an understanding which borders on the telepathic. The breaks, passing and support running have displayed a real empathy between the three, and in order to get to one of the best teams in the league on the back foot, this combination of speed, weaving, slight of hand and intellectual communication is our best hope. Gear has answered critics in the form that in none of the last three games he has played at 13, has a yawning defensive chasm opened up in that channel. Though it was a Cheeseman hat trick that got the better of the Warriors at Sixways, none of these bashed through outside centre, and were due to Bath’s creative force rather than Worcester’s deficiencies.

This game is the most important of Worcester’s young premier rugby career. The location could not be more apt, as both teams enter the home of their most mortal enemy. This match is genuinely to close to call. It will be a roller coaster of emotion, shattered nerves and broken fingernails. On that note…may we bow our heads, for The Lord’s Rugby Prayer:

Our Chairman
Who art in Sixways
Cecil be thy name
Now Ruddock’s come
Pat’s will be done
As Drahm turns 5 points to 7
May the ref forgive Horse’s trespasses
As we forgive Barkley for cheating against us
And lead us not into Stevens
But deliver us from Lipman
For we travel to Kingsholm
For Tries and Conversions
For ever and ever

Heineken…

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