Preview: Leicester v Wasps
Wasps Head Coach Shaun Edwards has named his side to face Leicester at Welford Road in the Aviva Premiership on Saturday.
London Wasps Head Coach Shaun Edwards has named his side to face Leicester at Welford Road in the big Aviva Premiership clash on Saturday.
Edwards has made five changes from the starting line-up that lost to Gloucester in last weekend's fixture. The changes see Mark Van Gisbergen and Nic Berry return in the back-line and Tom Lindsay, Marty Veale and Joe Launchbury all start in the pack. Richard Birkett is named as captain.
Van Gisbergen returns to full-back, with Ben Jacobs fitting in on the wing in the absence of Tom Varndell and Nic Berry comes in at nine.
Tom Lindsay starts at hooker pushing Joe Ward to the bench, while James Cannon makes way for Marty Veale at lock. Joe Worsley starts at number eight and youngster Joe Launchbury, who recently starred for England U20s, is on the flank.
London Wasps have a record of two wins in the last three games at Welford Road, and in the last fixture between the sides, Wasps won 37-30 when Leicester visited Adams Park at the beginning of the season in a thrilling game.
Meanwhile, Leicester welcome back internationals Martin Castrogiovanni and Tom Croft for Saturday's Round 15 fixture.
Castrogiovanni takes the number three shirt and is joined in the front-row by Boris Stankovich in the only changes to the line-up which started last Sunday's Premiership victory at Leeds Carnegie.
England flanker Croft is named among the replacements on his return from injury.
Director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: “We've got four tough games to play during this Six Nations period and, although we made a good start to that run with a win at Leeds last week, we want to keep it going.
“We've had some cracking games against Wasps in recent years and it should be a good contest.
“Julian White has had a bit of an injury but having Castro back softens the blow and I thought Pete Bucknall did an outstanding job for us at Leeds last weekend.”
Jordan Crane (knee), Ed Slater (foot), Matt Smith (hamstring) and Julian White (ankle) are ruled out by injury this week. Geordan Murphy, Ben Pienaar and Geoff Parling are also sidelined.
The teams:
Leicester: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Jeremy Staunton, 9 James Grindal, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Ben Woods, 6 Craig Newby (capt), 5 George Skivington, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 George Chuter, 1 Boris Stankovich.
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Peter Bucknall, 19 Calum Green, 20 Tom Croft, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Dan Hipkiss, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.
Wasps: 15 Mark Van Gisbergen, 14 Richard Haughton, 13 Dominic Waldouck, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ben Jacob, 10 Dave Walder, 9 Nic Berry, 8 Joe Worsley, 7 Serge Betsen, 6 Joe Launchbury, 5 Richard Birkett (capt), 4 Marty Veale, 3 Ben Broster, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Joe Ward, 17 Shaun Ruwers, 18 Bob Baker, 19 James Cannon, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Steve Kefu, 23 Jack Wallace.
Date: Saturday, February 19
Kick-off: 17:30
Venue: Welford Road