I CAN'T remember the last time we went into a game as underdogs but that's how most people will look at Saturday's trip to Rotherham.

I've been at Worcester club for three years now and I don't think the team has been in this position before.

Rotherham have been putting their side together for six years now and there has been little change during the past four seasons.

The spine of the side, numbers two, eight, nine, ten and fifteen, they've kept the same players and they all play to the same simple game plan.

They've been knocking at the door of Premiership One for the last two seasons and no-one would begrudge them their place there and they can be proud of what they've achieved.

Their pack hasn't changed from when we beat them here earlier in the season and I think that both sides have improved since then.

But we know where we're going, what's expected and the style of play that will get us a result.

We went close to victory there last season week but we made three mistakes and lost a narrow contest because we were punished every time.

If we play the controlled and structured game that we've been talking about for the past 10 days we can win.

It's vital that our players keep cool heads though as the game will be played in a hostile atmosphere, what some might call a friendly Yorkshire environment!

We'll also need to minimise the errors, play the rugby in the right areas and if our forwards play as well as we can I'm confident we can break their proud home record.

The small pitch at Clifton Lane has a large bearing on the tactics and approach to the match particularly at half-back.

Dave Scully their scrum-half is vital for them in their home games as he controls 90 per cent of their game so it's important we show as much control when we've got the ball.

The whole occasion is one we at the club have looked forward to immensely, we've all worked hard during the past nine months and it's games like these that we do that work for.

Professional rugby players should relish playing in such a fixture and to have the chance of spoiling somebody's party -- something everyone in the country wants to do when they play Worcester.

Thursday, April 6, 2000.