Adams Park hosts an 'exciting challenge'
London Wasps have made three changes to their starting team for this weekend’s visit of the in-form Northampton Saints on Sunday.
The changes are seen in the front row as Argentinean International prop Gabriel Bocca replaces Tim Payne, rested this weekend as part of the EPS agreement, and in the back row as Joe Worsley, also rested, is replaced by Dan Ward-Smith.
The final change is seen at flyhalf as Dave Walder makes his first start of the season and Danny Cipriani moves to full back in place of Lachlan Mitchell, named on the bench.
Alongside Mitchell Ben Broster, recovering from his ankle strain, replaces Bob Baker amongst the replacements and Will Matthews and Eoghan Hickey come in for Ward-Smith and Walder respectively.
Looking ahead to the game Hanks said: “We were obviously disappointed to come away from the Madejski with a loss last Sunday, but the squad have been pretty honest in training this week and I think we are confident improvements have been made. Going back to Adams Park and playing in front of our supporters is a big boost for the side and I know we will see a performance that reflects our true ability.
“We have made changes to the line up to give Tim Payne and Joe Worsley one of their rest weekends as part of the EPS agreement with worthy replacements in Argentinean International prop Gabriel Bocca and Dan Ward-Smith coming in to the starting XV.
“We also see Danny Cipriani move to fullback and Dave Walder start at 10. I think there is great interchangability in these positions and we feel this is the right fit for this game. We are lucky to have a depth at talent at flyhalf and Cips has shown his ability at fullback over the seasons past.”
The Saints go into their Guinness Premiership Round 5 match after achieving a bonus point win over Leeds Carnegie, but the Saints boss, Jim Mallinder, says that his team will have to increase their performance standards on Sunday.
“We had an excellent 15 minutes against Leeds during which we scored four tries, but we did not play to our potential for most of the rest of the match,” he said.
“This will not be good enough on Sunday. Wasps have started the season very well and have not lost at Adams Park for nearly a year. They have some very dangerous runners like Tom Varndell who have scored plenty of tries and a tough pack of forwards who have been producing good ball.
“We need improvement in all areas of our game to be competitive throughout the match, but our players have been training hard all week and are excited by the challenge ahead of them.”
Each side won its respective home game when the two teams met last season, whilst Northampton have never been victorious in eight previous visits to Adams Park. The Saints’ have in fact not won on Wasps soil since a 21-15 victory at Loftus Road in the Premiership on 29 December 1999.
London Wasps run of six successive Guinness Premiership victories came to a halt at London Irish on Sunday. The Londoners have won their last dozen encounters at Adams Park in all competitions since a Sale victory there, 13-12, in the Premiership on 23 November 2008.
Northampton Saints have won five of their last six games in all competitions. The Saints won their most recent away game (27-14 at Gloucester) but have not managed back to back away victories in the Guinness Premiership since March-April 2006.
The teams:
Wasps: 15 Danny Cipriani, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Ben Jacobs, 12 Dom Waldouck, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Dave Walder, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 John Hart, 7 Serge Betsen, 6 Dan Ward-Smith, 5 Richard Birkett, 4 George Skivington, 3 Phil Vickery (captain),2 Rob Webber, 1 Gabriel Bocca.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Charlie Beech, 18 Ben Broster, 19 Dan Leo, 20 Will Matthews, 21 Warren Fury, 22 Eoghan Hickey, 23 Lachlan Mitchell.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Chris Mayor, 12 James Downey, 11 Bruce Reihana, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Mark Easter, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Regardt Dreyer.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Soane Tonga’uiha, 18 Santiago Bonorino, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Neil Best, 21 Alan Dickens, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Joe Ansbro.
Date: Saturday 02 October
Venue: Adams Park
Time: 15.00 (14.00 GMT)
Referee: Dean Richards (24th Premiership game)
