Factors that will decide the weekend’s games: Worcester’s Welsh weapon and how Dan Robson hurts teams

Much later in the game, after Saracens had put the result beyond doubt, a piece of powerful, determined defence illustrated Adams’ character.

The sequence begins with Michael Rhodes, one of Mark McCall’s most important individuals, picking from the base of a breakdown…

…and slicing through a fractured Worcester line:

After fixing full-back Pennell, Rhodes flicks a one-handed pass to Alex Lozowski, who seems to be in the clear:

However, Adams bolts in from the near touchline to wrap up the carrier…

…and makes a nuisance of himself over the ball until Rhodes arrives to make a robust clear-out:

Saracens kept their composure and moved the ball left for Nathan Earle to score two phases later. Even so, Worcester responded with a fourth try in the final minute to stay 10 points clear of Irish in eleventh place.

Adams, a powerful athlete who makes sound defensive decisions as well as scoring plenty of tries, will have another opportunity to catch Warren Gatland’s eye this evening against Bath.

Helping his team to victory over a Bath side featuring fellow Welshmen Rhys Priestland and Aled Brew should provide a big boost to Adams’ prospects of appearing in the Six Nations.

Robson’s anticipation game

Coaches often talk about how dangerous it can be for a scrum-half to register a second touch in the same move, and Dan Robson regularly corroborates this notion. Although Eddie Jones is not yet keen enough to bring him into an England training squad, the 25 year-old Wasp runs wonderful support lines.

This attack, just two minutes into the first game of the current season back in September, illustrates this trait perfectly. Wasps have set up a breakdown in the centre of the pitch after going off the top of a lineout and sending up Nathan Hughes.

Robson tracks across from the near touchline to the ruck before spinning in the opposite direction and finding hooker Tom Cruse. Danny Cipriani is behind a carrying pod of three forwards…

…and receives a pull-back pass from the skilful Cruse. Robson’s initial movements are towards the far corner of the line Wasps are attacking. The anticipation begins here:

When Cipriani bypasses Alex Rieder to locate Jimmy Gopperth, Robson is some 10 metres in front of the ball. This angle is something of a gamble, but Wasps have isolated Sale Sharks scrum-half Faf de Klerk on an edge:

Burly centre Gaby Lovobalavu bursts clear before holding Byron McGuigan and releasing Christian Wade:

When Wade explodes into space, Robson, having pre-empted the path of this move, points to identify himself to the carrier:

Wade calmly fixes Mike Haley and and releases his scrum-half:

Robson would add three more tries in this match and has troubled defences throughout the season. Like All Black TJ Perenara, he is a fantastic second-touch scrum-half. He happens to be fairly useful with his first touch, too.

Tom Dunn is the man to watch in this sequence from Wasps’ victory at Bath last Friday. The all-action hooker starts this phase next to the breakdown:

Robson bypasses two forwards to reach Cipriani…

…and James Haskell takes contact. At this point, Robson bends to resource the breakdown and Dunn points to the blindside fringe. He seems to be hoping that Matt Garvey will edge back into that slot:

But Garvey does not, and when Dunn arcs around the corner there is a gaping hole. Robson does not need a second invitation. He takes the space…

…and jams on the brakes so that Bath fly-half Rhys Priestland runs past him:

Staying calm out in the open, Robson releases scorer Juan de Jongh:

Saracens head to the Ricoh Arena with two big guns - Billy Vunipola and Maro Itoje - back fit and in the starting line-up.

With Exeter stretching ahead at the summit, this game already feels like a significant episode in the race for second and third place - or the race to avoid a semi-final at Sandy Park. If Mark McCall’s men cannot contain Robson, they could stumble.

Match images courtesy of BT Sport