30 September 2005
Worcester Warriors starting line up for Saturday's Powergen Cup tie against Northampton Saints contains seven changes to that which faced London Wasps in the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP last Sunday.

Centre-pairing Gary Trueman and Mark Tucker make their first start to the season, as do Chris Fortey and tight-head prop, Tevita Taumoepeau.

Other changes see Matt Powell coming in at scrum-half, with Drew Hickey returning to the number eight position. Tim Collier resumes his second row partnership with Craig Gillies.

"We are looking forward to the start of our Powergen Cup campaign this weekend. Anthony Eddy and I have made several changes to the side that faced Wasps, and the players that we have brought in have waited patiently and deserve their chance. Northampton may well have only won one game so far this season, but they are a quality side with experienced players. We expect a hard fought match in front of our home supporters who have been magnificent this season," said John Brain, Worcester's director of rugby.

Worcester Warriors team to face Northampton:
15. Nicolas Le Roux
14. Jonny Hylton
13. Dale Rasmussen
12. Gary Trueman
11. Mark Tucker
10. Shane Drahm
9.   Matt Powell
8.   Drew Hickey
7.   Pat Sanderson (Captain)
6.   Kai Horstmann
5.  Craig Gillies
4.  Tim Collier
3.  Tevita Taumoepeau
2.  Chris Fortey
1.  Tony Windo

Replacements:
16. Mike MacDonald
17. Andre Van Niekerk
18. Phil Murphy
19. Johnny Tuamoheloa
20. Andy Gomarsall
21. Simon Whatling
22. Thomas Lombard

Colin Noon returns to top flight rugby

Northampton Saints prop Colin Noon will make his return to top flight rugby when he starts for his new club against Worcester Warriors in the first round of the Powergen Cup.

Noon, aged 29, made his return to rugby on Monday, following a six-month ban for stamping, when he played in the Wanderers' 36-0 win over Leicester's development side in the Guinness A League.

His last appearance in the Premiership was as a replacement for Leicester Tigers against Worcester on November 13 last year before he went on loan to Rotherham. His last start was for this weekend's opponents Worcester at Sale on September 24, 2004.

Noon said: "When Rotherham went bust, I went down to Worcester and played for them for a month and then signed to Leicester for a year. It's nice to get a club and know where I am and what I am doing.

"I played Monday night here against Leicester which was obviously an old club of mine. I was pretty tired as it was my first game but I basically felt good and to be honest I was just glad to be back on the field again and running about - happy days!"

He added: "I know a bit about Worcester. Tony Windo is an old mate of mine. He will look to get one over on me big time. I will just concentrate on my game and do the best I can."

Noon's start at tighthead is one of four changes in the pack. Dan Richmond, Selborne Boome and Mark Soden have all been promoted from the subs' bench for this game at Sixways, which kicks-off at 2pm on Saturday.

New flanker Sam Harding has been included on the bench.

The last time Saints visited Sixways was the last league day of last season when both clubs were fighting for Premiership survival. Saturday's game will see the visitors reacquainted with an old friend in fly-half Shane Drahm.

Director of rugby Budge Pountney said: "Drahmy is a great guy and he has got a lot of friends here. We are looking forward to playing against him and he will be looking forward to playing against us. It's always nice to meet old friends on the rugby pitch.

"This week is a bit of carbon copy of last week. Worcester have got a very good, strong pack which dictates the way they play. We have got to prove our worth, got to improve the areas that were not so strong against Gloucester and we have got to improve our discipline."

Northampton Saints

15 BRUCE REIHANA (capt)
14 SEAN LAMONT
13 Jon Clarke
12 DAVID QUINLAN
11 BEN COHEN
10 CARLOS SPENCER
9 MARK ROBINSON
1 TOM SMITH
2 Dan Richmond
3 Colin Noon
4 SELBORNE BOOME
5 Damien Browne
6 STEVE THOMPSON
7 Darren Fox
8 Mark Soden

16 Dylan Hartley
17 Chris Budgen
18 Matt Lord
19 SAM HARDING
20 Johnny Howard
21 Rhodri Davies
22 Seamus Mallon