Scotland duo drafted straight back in at Worcester Warriors XV

Scotland internationals Duncan Weir and Cornell du Preez will make their first appearances of the Gallagher Premiership season for Warriors against Bath Rugby at Sixways.

Fly-half Weir and number eight du Preez missed the first two matches of the campaign due to their involvement in Scotland’s autumn campaign but they have been released for club duty having been left out of the matchday squad for Saturday’s Autumn Nations Cup match against Ireland in Dublin.

Both go straight into Warriors’ starting XV against Bath with Weir boasting a 100 per cent kicking record – five penalties and four conversions – in his two starts for Scotland against Italy and France.

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Du Preez’s return to club duty is timely as Warriors lost two back-row forwards, Matt Kvesic (neck) and Marco Mama (groin), to injuries against Bristol last week.

Former Scotland Under-20s international Tom Dodd joins du Preez and Ted Hill in the back-row at openside flanker for his first home Premiership start.

Fit-again wing Perry Humphreys will also make his first appearance of the season, displacing Tom Howe who scored a try in each of the first two matches of the campaign.

Loosehead prop Ethan Waller, who came off the bench at Bristol, starts in the fifth change to the starting XV as Warriors welcome back supporters for the first time in 275 days.

A crowd of 2,000 Season Ticket Holders – with places decided by a ballot – will be accommodated in the East Stand and part of the South Stand with COVID-19 regulations in place to ensure social distancing.

The last time supporters were allowed to attend a Warriors home match was against Northampton Saints on March 6 since when five matches have been played at Sixways behind closed doors.

WORCESTER WARRIORS:
15 Melani Nana
14 Perry Humphreys
13 Oli Morris
12 Francois Venter
11 Nick David
10 Duncan Weir
9 Francois Hougaard
1 Ethan Waller
2 Niall Annett
3 Richard Palframan
4 Anton Bresler
5 Andrew Kitchener
6 Ted Hill (C)
7 Tom Dodd
8 Cornell du Preez.

REPLACCEMENTS: 16 Beck Cutting, 17 Callum Black, 18 Conor Carey, 19 George Merrick, 20 Joe Batley, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Ashley Beck.