By contrast the Carnegies remain the division’s whipping boys with last week’s heavy defeat at home to Bristol being a bitter blow to the club’s fast fading hopes of survival.

With relegation a near certainty Leeds can now plan for next season. ND1 is not a disaster providing that the lessons have been learned from last year. Players who do not fancy it but are good enough to play in the GP can be counted on the fingers of one hand so there will be no mass exodus in May. The Warriors, on the other hand, need to strengthen their squad to extend their stay in the GP. It is apparent, at least amongst their fans, that there will be around a dozen players leaving Sixways before the start of the next campaign. Next season Worcester could well find themselves in a tussle with Bristol and Newcastle for the wooden spoon.

How will all this affect Sunday’s game?  The Carnegies have established a game plan which often involves only playing for  up to half the match and then capitulating, giving the opposition a bonus point as well. All that is left to play for this season is pride. Stuart Lancaster can use this and the other remaining games to assess which players have the right attitude for the ND1 campaign to come. If he judges them on the Bristol match alone then there would be an enforced exodus of biblical proportions. Players who are leaving at the end of the season should be dropped now – this is not the time to get sentimental. It is also a good time to give any promising youngsters a run out – a taste of the GP so that they will want some more in eighteen months time. There has been much debate amongst the fans about the captaincy. I believe whoever is earmarked for skipper next season should start doing the job this weekend.

Now that Worcester are safe they can be expected to play a decent attacking game. Leeds might also do the same. I think that the Leeds players would want to show the traveling support that last week was not the shape of things to come and was merely a bad day at the office. Sixways will be full to the gunnels and neither side has given the fans much to shout about this season so a ten try thriller would be most welcome. Worcester is the worst side to visit HC this season but it has upped its game recently so the form book would suggest a home win. Worcester to win by ten points.

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