Warriors v Pirates: Teams

Grove: Call-up for Warriors

The team is now eager for the final hurdle to arrive and start.

Richard Hill
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Scotland international centre Alex Grove has been called into the starting line-up as Worcester Warriors take on the Cornish Pirates in the second leg of the RFU Championship.

Grove, who replaces Alex Crockett for the final showdown of the season, is the only change to the side that secured a 21-12 victory in the first leg in Penzance.

The match will see Miles Benjamin, the top try-scorer in the league, play in his 100th game for the club while pack duo Adam Black and Greg Rawlinson will start in what will be their final appearances for the Warriors.

Hill said: "We have no new injury problems and out of 37 in the squad we just have Pat Sanderson out. Everyone is fit and raring to go.

"Alex Grove has really impressed when he has come off the bench in recent games and fully deserves his call-up to start the second leg.

"The team is now eager for the final hurdle to arrive and start. I don't think we made full use of the domination we enjoyed in the scrum and lineout in the last game. If we can establish that again, and use the ball a lot better, we could be more efficient and put more pressure on them."

Advantage

Looking to make up for their first leg defeat, the Pirates enter Wednesday's game trailing by nine points.

And Warriors not only have the advantage of a first-leg win but a home game and an experienced squad.

But the Pirates are still able to fight back if they eliminate mistakes made at Mennaye Field and break through a strong Worcester defence.

Ahead of the game, performance manager Chris Stirling said: "This game will inevitably be as intense as it gets but we have beaten the Warriors at Sixways this season and we'd love to do it again.

"We will need to start better than we did at home and not make unfortunate mistakes, and if we can play with a bit of tempo and create chances then who knows what might happen.

"Worcester are a well organised outfit, as you'd expect, but I am proud of what the boys have achieved and we'll be looking to end the season on a high."

Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Marcel Garvey, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Dale Rasmussen, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Kai Hortsmann, 7 Jake Abbott, 6 Neil Best, 5 Craig Gillies, 4 Greg Rawlinson, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Chris Fortey, 1 Adam Black.
Replacements: 16 Aleki Lutui, 17 Bruce Douglas, 18 Graham Kitchener, 19 Adam Balding, 20 Ollie Frost, 21 Joe Carlisle, 22 Alex Crockett

Pirates: TBC

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