PRE-SEASON SERIES – WORCESTER WARRIORS v BATH

Everard: dominate?
By shipwrecked
September 15 2025

Match 3 – Away, Sixways Stadium - Fri 19 Sep - 19:45This is going to be a busy week for Bath, Friday night we have the final match of the preseason series against Worcester Warriors and the following day, Saturday we have a Prem Cup game against Exeter at 3.05 pm at the Rec!Sixways is sold out for this the first home game following their return to rugby and there will also be special tributes to past players during the evening.

This is a supreme test of Bath’s strength in depth probably meaning that the Worcester fixture will be loaded with senior players as younger talent will feature at the Rec. It does mean however, that we have a problem at fly half. Ciarran Donoghue was already pencilled in at 10 as Finn Russell and Santi Carreras are rested. I was a little surprised that James Linegar featured in the first preseason game but it might explain why he is being pencilled in to play against Exeter in the Prem cup along with a huge chunk of academy players.
2 fixtures in two days leaves us guessing on who plays when. As yet Dan Frost is still to feature and pending enforced rest the likes of Ewels, Obano, Barbeary are waiting in the wings.

Johaan van Graan has an uncanny way of empathising with club identity be it Bath, Munster or Worcester he seems to understand the connection that players have, not only with their fans but also with current and ex-teammates. That seems to be true in both senior and academy players. It’s a quality that is incredibly valuable as a coach as it means he retains relationships with quality players even stretching back to his time coaching in South Africa. I’m sure that’s why he gets the extra performance from his compatriots like Francois van Wyk, Thomas du Toit, Jaco Coetzee, GJ van Velze, Louis Schreuder and Quin Roux. All of these players have improved under his watch. They seem to relish the security he offers even to the point of short stays for recovery.

One South African whose development could take these steps forward is Bernard van der Linde (24) not forgetting Neil Le Roux (22) of course. Bernard van der Linde has had decent game time in the two preceding warmups which seems to indicate he has a role to play this season.

Which Worcester Warriors players will be the “ones to watch” this season?

Austin Wallis, formerly of London Scottish will be the player to keep an eye on. Recently confirmed Austin is a cannon ball of a player and also tackling machine. He is a strong ball carrier but also agile, Warriors are looking to him to feature strongly.

Second row is the engine room of any side and likely to feature in the preseason fixture would be Côme Joussain who left Tigers in the summer, many at Leicester were disappointed to see him go as Geoff Parling reassessed his pack. He will be partnered by Obinna Nkwocha, a lock of a similar style to a well-known Saracens and Lions second row. Perhaps not yet fully recovered from injury though.

It seems Matt Everard wants to dominate physically both upfront and, in the backs, and front row is vital to that goal. To achieve that Warriors are enlisting two Fijians Livai Natave who is a monster loosehead and Tim Hoyt who’s a big, big guy for his age. Overall, that makes a sizeable front 5. Worcester will be hoping they dominate the Champ in the weeks to come.

There is also the significant signing of another Fijian Siva Naulago, the Bristol wing adding a bit of X factor to the backs scoring 21 tries last season. Josh Basset provides experience on the other wing and Will Reed at 10 they have a set of runners capable of causing havoc when they win ball up front.

Centre for the Warriors sees two young candidates both emerging after injury in James Short once of the Bath academy and Chris Preen from Loughborough, not forgetting Rory Taylor a young 10 from Hartpury who comes highly recommended. James was a standout England u18 centre before suffering injury. If he stays fit then Worcester is the perfect club for him to develop at.

Preen has significant bulk and won the BUCS Super rugby trophy in 2024 scoring the opening try by easily breaking midfield tackles. It might be too early for them to feature in this game but these young Warrior talents who were opponents at Uni now may form the spearhead of Warriors return to rugby.

I sort of wonder if JvG and Matt Everard have a mischievous aspect to them and whether we might see it come out in this preseason game. We will probably see Ted Hill at this fixture and given his playing time over the summer he could even play. There are several ex-Bath players who could feature too against their former club. These include Abdul-Khalik Akenzua Al-Kareem in the back row who prudently left Bath given the competition for back row slots, he will be hoping for some game time this season. We can’t close this player review without mentioning a university favourite. Alfie Garside is a well-known member of the ‘brothers’ he left Bath Uni spending some time at Bedford Blues but will now be plying his trade at Worcester. He is joined by his brother Jake, a scrum half and winger from Northampton. Alfie and Jake have similar traits offering edge and real bite in the backs. It does seem that there has been some canny recruitment by Matt Everard who will be hoping to get the Warriors to gel into a formidable outfit.

Pre-season games are not really about winning but more about cameos to attract attention, it’s unrealistic to expect Worcester Warriors to notch up a home win and the two clubs have an amicable arrangement between them but watch out for some good rugby as the likes of seasoned professionals in the form of Matt Kvesic, Fraser Balmain and Josh Bassett show their pedigree.

I strongly suspect JvG would like to play the nostalgia card and want to feature ex Warriors like Ted Hill and of course Ollie Lawrence who both joined Bath when Warriors folded in 2022. Jamie Shillcock was another who joined Bath from Worcester at that time before moving on to Leicester as did another ex-Warrior Fergus Lee-Warner who had a spell at New South Wales Waratahs before very recently returning to England and signing for Newcastle Red Bulls.
Ollie Lawrence’s almost miraculous recovery from his ruptured Achilles tendon was confirmed with a 30-minute spell against Munster in the rain.
He will surely get a cameo at Sixways simply because of his previous Warriors connection, I’m sure we all agree it’s a real treat to see him up and about in a Bath shirt.

This match has the feel of old mates getting back together but as the last game before the real action of a new Prem season for Bath and a new Champ season for Worcester the game will be viewed very seriously by all involved.

Welcome back Worcester Warriors!

Posted by: Comeonmylovers.co.uk (IP Logged)

Date: 15/09/2025 08:11

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:09:23:14:06:32 by P G Tips.