Falcons v Warriors preview
Newcastle Falcons travel to Sixways Stadium this weekend to take on Dean Ryan’s side in round four of the Aviva Premiership.
The first meeting between the sides since March 2013 following the Warriors promotion back to the top flight last summer, Saturday’s game will be refereed by JP Doyle, who, fresh from returning from duty at the Rugby World Cup, takes charge of his 81st Premiership game.
Having taken a narrow and arguably shock win over Northampton Saints on the opening weekend of the season, the Warriors fell to successive defeats in rounds two and three however, matching Sale and Gloucester for large swaths of the games and taking a bonus point from Kingsholm, will be eager to get back to the comforts of home soil.
In amongst the ranks coached by former Newcastle number eight Ryan are former Falcons Tom Biggs and Phil Dowson, although the latter is currently a fitness doubt ahead of the game.
Dowson joined the Warriors from Northampton Saints over the summer, while Biggs has been there one season longer and should he take to the field on Saturday, will make his 28th appearance for Worcester.
In the head to head between the two sides, the advantage lies narrowly with the Falcons, winning nine out of the 17 matches and drawing a further two. Both of these games were at Kingston Park and both ended 16 all in season 2008/09 and 2011/12.
Newcastle’s biggest win against Warriors came the first time the two sides meet in the Premiership in September 2004 when tries from Mark Mayhofler, Stuart Grimes and Mike McCarthy gave the Falcons a 9-30 win. Since then matches between the two sides have generally been much closer affairs with more of the same anticipated on Saturday.
The Falcons v Warriors fixture is a game that is awaiting the clubs’ current breed of stars to stamp a mark on, with both teams top performers having long since departed the respective changing rooms.
For the Warriors, their top try scorer in this fixture is currently Pat Sanderson with four, while their top points scorer is currently Shane Drahm on 52.
At Newcastle, their top try scorer remains legendary Australian fullback Matt Burke, who also has four to his name, while the man who has scored the most points is still Jonny Wilkinson on 41.
Newcastle Falcons supporters wishing to travel to Sixways and support their team can still book onto the official supporters coach heading to the game and book tickets via the Worcester box office.
The coach will depart Kingston Park Stadium at 07:30 on Saturday morning, with additional pick up points at Washing Services Southbound at 07:50 and Scotch Corner Southbound slip road at 08:20.
Fares for the coach are £25 by adults and £15 for under 16s and can be bought by [clicking here][1] or calling 0871 2266060 until 5pm on Friday November 6th.
For supporters wishing to remain at home, the club’s official twitter account and official app will provide full text commentary, while BBC Radio Newcastle will be broadcasting live.
[1]: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/details/event.aspx?itemref=2831
