WORCESTER Rugby Club will have to do without Samoan fly- half Earl Va'a at Saracens if they come through their Tetley Bitter Cup fourth round clash at Tynedale on Saturday.

The Sixways team, due to play at Vicarage Road in the fifth round on November 11, will be without Va'a who has been ordered to rest his hand injury for at least another two weeks.

Adrian Skeggs, director of coaching at Worcester, said it was a "massive" blow for the club but he was not prepared to risk Va'a with the fractured thumb.

He said: "It's very bad news for us because he is a key figure who is not only an outstanding attacking talent, he is also a very good defensive fly-half.

"We will just have to make do without him but it is a massive blow because I wanted him at Saracens."

Meanwhile, Worcester Warriors travel to Oxford University tonight (7.15pm), with a number of first team stars on show.

Laulala Langkilde, Nick Baxter and Cameron Mather all stake their claims for a recall in Northumberland after missing Worcester's Waterloo win on Saturday.

Warriors: Calder; Baxter, Meredith, Langkilde, McLean; Jones, Pellow; Hartland, Hall, Benbouhout, Webster, Lloyd, Evans, Mather, Merlin. Replacements: Chesham, Pearl, Knight, Shepherd, Richardson, Simpson-Daniel, Ward, Eastwood.