JAKE HENRY will make only his third Championship start when Plymouth Albion travel to league leaders Worcester Warriors on Saturday (3pm).
The former England Student winger is handed his chance as dual-registered Worcester flyer Josh Watkins is not allowed to play against his parent club.
Henry’s previously league starts also came away from home, at Bedford and Rotherham.
Henry for Watkins is one of three changes bottom club Albion make from their last outing against Jersey for their tough trip to Sixways.
The other two are in the pack, with Ted Stagg returning at hooker in place of Tom Cowan-Dickie, who has a slight knock, and Iain Grieve coming in at number eight for Rhys Oakley.
Grieve, who began the season as team captain, has not started a match for Albion since January 10 due to injury and personal reasons.
On the bench, Plymouth welcome back winger Mark Kohler after a rib injury, while Cameron Setter takes the place of experienced scrum-half Ruairi Cushion, who has dislocated his thumb.
Albion have not beaten Worcester in the professional era. The sides have met six times competitively since 2003, five times in the league and once in the British & Irish Cup, with the Warriors triumphing in all those occasions.
However, Plymouth did push Dean Ryan’s side hard at Brickfields in November, with the Warriors eventually winning 22-10.
Worcester boss Ryan says his team certainly cannot afford to take Albion lightly on Saturday.
“Plymouth are starting to climb back up,” he said. “They have a lot of guys desperate to do well. That makes them a dangerous side but we’re aware of the threats and as normal most of the responsibility sits on ourselves.”
Worcester have named Chris Pennell at full-back after his return from the England squad, while they handed debuts to new signings Cooper Vuna and Sam Lewis.
Lawrence Rayner, who will line-up at full-back on Saturday, has played at Sixways this season, helping the Championship XV to victory over Canada.
Meanwhile, Albion’s eyes will be on Friday night’s match between Moseley and Doncaster, the two teams immediately above them in the table.
Moseley are currently three points above Plymouth, while Doncaster are five.
ALBION TEAM TO FACE WORCESTER
15 Lawrence Rayner
14 Jack Arnott
13 Ben Woods
12 Toby Howley-Berridge
11 Jake Henry
10 Declan Cusack (capt)
9 Josh Davies
1 Tom Fidler
2 Ted Stagg
3 Andy Tiedemann
4 Neale Patrick
5 Tom Hicks
6 Eoghan Grace
7 Sam Simmonds
8 Iain Grieve
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Tom Heard, 18 Luke Chapman, 19 Tom Jubb, 20 Mark Kohler, 21 Cameron Setter, 22 Ben Foley.
WORCESTER TEAM
15 Chris Pennell
14 Ben Howard
13 Max Stelling
12 Andy Symons
11 Cooper Vuna
10 Ryan Mills
9 Charlie Mulchrone
1 Val Rapava Ruskin
2 Agustin Creevy
3 Nick Schonert
4 Mike Williams
5 Jonathan Thomas
6 Leonardo Senatore
7 Sam Lewis
8 GJ van Velze (C)
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Mike Daniels, 18 Darren O’Shea, 19 Matt Cox, 20 Jonny Arr, 21 Ignacio Mieres, 22 Sam Smith