WORCESTER Warriors will not be taking Doncaster Knights lightly in tomorrow’s British and Irish Cup final, according to former skipper Jonathan Thomas.

The 32-year-old was part of the Welsh national team when Doncaster’s director of rugby Clive Griffiths was the defence coach.

Thomas is unlikely to be part of the Warriors’ squad but will be cheering on his team-mates at Castle Park.

“We have found that teams in the Championship can adopt one particular game-plan, which can be basic, but makes it quite difficult to play against,” said Thomas, who has been capped 67 times by Wales.

“It’s similar to the FA Cup in football when an underdog comes out with a game-plan and everyone in the team carries that out.

“I know Clive Griffiths very well — he’s a very astute coach. I worked with him for a couple of years at Wales and he will prepare Doncaster very well.

“He’s smart and been around the block and it will be a tough challenge for our group.

“Clive will come up with a game-plan that everyone in Doncaster will buy into and he will try to upset us from minute one.

“It will be a difficult test but one that we were really looking forward to.”

Warriors and Doncaster have each won eight matches to reach the final and Dean Ryan’s men have twice beaten the Knights in the Greene King IPA Championship.

Warriors won 32-16 at Doncaster in September but were starved of the ball for long spells in the return match at Sixways before running out 25-5 winners in a dour encounter.

Doncaster captain Michael Hills said: “Having a home final at Castle Park is a momentous occasion not just for us as players and staff but also for our supporters who have been instrumental in our success.

“We remain confident that we can produce a strong performance and deliver the right result.”