Preview: Premiership, Round 21
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Wasps can give their top-four hopes a serious shot in the arm this weekend and Premiership player of the month Joe Simpson insists confidence is sky high at the Ricoh Arena.
The Ricoh is sold out for Leicester Tigers' visit on Saturday, so a new record attendance for a Premiership match outside of Twickenham and Wembley is anticipated – exceeding the 28,254 that took in Wasps' clash with London Irish earlier this season.
And the stakes are high, with both sides knowing a win will see them taking a step closer to reaching the coveted semifinals.
Wasps have won their last two Premiership matches, against London Welsh and Exeter, and boast the best home record in the league having lost just once on their own turf all season.
Simpson, in particular, is enjoying a rich vein of form and was named Premiership player of the month on Thursday.
He comes into the contest off the back of a match-winning try-of-the-season contender against Exeter last time out and is relishing the battle on Saturday – and the prospect of facing off against England No.9 Ben Youngs.
"There's going to be an unbelievable crowd there and I'm sure they'll get right behind us," he said the scrumhalf.
"Leicester finish well every season so we've got to be wary of that. But we know that on our day we can beat anyone, we're very confident in the ability we've got in this squad.
"We're a team that likes to throw it about and score tries and they're a team that likes to slow it down, kick the points and grind out wins, so it's going to be an interesting battle and we need to make sure that our style comes out on top at the weekend.
"It's going to be a good head-to-head between me and Ben Youngs for the spectators. But I'll just be focusing on my own jobs at the weekend, making sure all the boys know their roles and that I'm bossing my team around and making sure we're playing in the right areas.
"Hopefully the result will take care of itself."
Leicester Tigers' only defeat in the last seven rounds of Premiership action came at Saracens last month. Indeed, only two sides have a better away record this season in the competition – Bath and Northampton Saints.
On top of that Wasps' only victory over Tigers in their last five encounters in all tournaments was a 22-12 triumph at Adams Park in October 2013.
The Tigers are venturing into foreign territory, however, having not played a game in Coventry since January 1998 – but Niall Morris is not too apprehensive.
"I have never played there before and I am hoping that a lot of the capacity is going to be Leicester fans," he said.
"That will hopefully be good for us and we can feed off that.
"They have a lot of threats – we know all about their back three – and if we are not on it, Andy Goode will score points. We know how tough a game it is going to be. We are looking forward to it.
"There was always a great rivalry when they were in London, so moving up the road to Coventry has just added a bit more spice to it.
"It should be a great game and hopefully we can get the result."
All of the weekend's match details:
Friday, May 8
Harlequins v Bath
(Twickenham Stoop – Kick-off: 19.45, 18.45 GMT)
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Ollie Lindsay-Hague, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 George Lowe, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Jack Clifford, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Luke Wallace, 5 George Robson, 4 Nick Easter, 3 Matt Shields, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Mark Lambert.
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Seb Adeniran-Olule, 18 Darryl Marfo, 19 Charlie Matthews. 20 Netani Talei, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Charlie Walker.
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw (captain), 6 Sam Burgess, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 David Wilson, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Ollie Devoto, 23 Tom Homer.
Referee: Gregory Garner
Assistant referees: Ashley Rowden, JP Doyle
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Saturday, May 9
Sale Sharks v Newcastle Falcons
(AJ Bell Stadium – Kick-off: 14.00, 13.00 GMT)
Teams:
Sale: 15 Tom Arscott, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 David Seymour, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Eifion Lewis Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Michael Paterson, 20 TJ Ioane, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mike Haley.
Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Ruki Tipuna, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Calum Green, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Rob Vickers.
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Eric Fry, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Will Witty, 20 Richard Mayhew, 21 Mike Blair, 22 Alesana Tuilagi, 23 Anitelea Tuilagi.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Andrew Jackson
TMO: Graham Hughes
Gloucester v London Irish
(Kingsholm – Kick-off: 15.00, 14.00 GMT)
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Charlie Sharples, 14 Jonny May, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 11 Henry Purdy, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Dan Thomas, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Tom Savage, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Yann Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Nick Wood, 18 Shaun Knight, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 James Hudson, 21 Callum Braley, 22 James Hook, 23 Steve McColl.
Irish: 15 Andrew Fenby, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Shane Geraghty, 11 James Short, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Tomás O’Leary, 8 Tom Guest, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Luke Narraway, 5 Jebb Sinclair, 4 George Skivington (captain), 3 Richard Palframan, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Stevens, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Dan Leo, 20 Kieran Low, 21 Callum Watson, 22 Eamonn Sheridan, 23 Andy Short.
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Andrew Pearce, Roger Baileff
TMO: Robin Goodliffe
Northampton Saints v London Welsh
(Franklin's Gardens – Kick-off: 15.15, 14.15 GMT)
Teams:
Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Gareth Denman, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Salesi Ma'afu, 19 Sam Dickinson, 20 Jon Fisher, 21 Kahn Fotuali'i, 22 Tom Stephenson, 23 James Wilson.
London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Alan Awcock, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Tom May (captain), 11 Chris Elder, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Paul Rowley, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Darren Waters, 6 Daniel Browne, 5 Matt Corker, 4 Ben West, 3 Ben Cooper, 2 Koree Britton, 1 Nathan Trevett.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Eddie Aholelei, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 James Down, 20 Josh McNally, 21 Jesse Liston, 22 Rob Lewis, 23 Will Robinson.
Referee: Andrew Small
Assistant referees: Wayne Falla, Steve Lee
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Wasps v Leicester Tigers
(Rocoh Arena – Kick-off: 15.15, 14.15 GMT)
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 James Haskell (captain), 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 James Gaskell, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay 17 Simon McIntyre 18 Will Taylor 19 Joe Launchbury 20 Guy Thompson 21 Charlie Davies 22 Alex Lozowski 23 Rob Miller.
Leicester: 15 Niall Morris, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Vereneki Goneva, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Youngs (captain), 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Geoff Parling, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Logovi'i Mulipola.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Ed Slater, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Christian Loamanu.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Kelvin Stewart
TMO: Sean Davey
Sunday, May 10
Saracens v Exeter Chiefs
(Allianz Park – Kick-off: 14.00, 13.00 GMT)
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Chris Wyles, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth (captain), 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 George Kruis, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 James Johnston, 19 Alistair Hargreaves, 20 Ernst Joubert, 21 Neil De Kock, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Nick Tompkins.
Exeter: 15 Byron McGuigan, 14 Ian Whitten, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Ben White, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Mitch Lees, 4 Dean Mumm (captain), 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Alex Brown, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 23 Max Bodilly.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Tim Wigglesworth, Peter Huckle
TMO: David Grashoff
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