LONDON Irish have been forced to turn to their third-choice scrum-half for tomorrow's trip to Sixways.

Warren Fury has been handed the number nine shirt after Paul Hodgson was drafted into the England squad, while Peter Richards is injured. Promising academy utility-back Ben Stevenson provides cover on the bench.

Hodgson got the call from Brian Ashton to join the Red Rose squad to face France in Paris after former Worcester scrum-half Andy Gommarsall was dropped.

Injuries to Shane Geraghty and Eoghan Hickey mean that Nils Mordt and Mike Catt start at inside-centre and outside-half respectively.

Among the forwards, Danie Coetzee and James Hudson rotate with David Paice and Nick Kennedy at hooker and at lock respectively.

Delon Armitge will be making his 100th senior appearance for Irish when he leads the Exiles out to - an amazing achievement given that he is only 24 years old.

Irish director of rugby Brian Smith said: "We meet Worcester for the fourth time this season and, while we've had the better of the exchanges to-date, we're under no illusions about the difficulty of the challenge that awaits us at Sixways.

"The Warriors' league position belies a strong and talented team which Mike Ruddock is turning into an attacking force that can punish any opposition that is not at its best."

London Irish: Hewat; Ojo, Armitage, Mordt, Tagicakibau; Catt, Fury; Lea'aetoa, Coetzee, Rautenbach, Hudson, Casey (c), Roche, Armitage, Thorpe. Replacements: Murphy, Paice, Skuse, Kennedy, Leguizamon, Stevenson, Tiesi.