Preview: Newcastle v Wasps
Newcastle welcome back the England quartet of Toby Flood, Jonny Wilkinson, Jamie Noon and Mathew Tait, as they host Wasps in Friday's Guinness Premiership clash at Kingston Park.
Newcastle welcome back the England quartet of Toby Flood, Jonny Wilkinson, Jamie Noon and Mathew Tait, as they host Wasps in Friday's Guinness Premiership clash at Kingston Park.
They return having helped England to victory over France in Paris last weekend, and join a Falcons team looking for a repeat of last season's emphatic 37-11 home victory over European champions Wasps.
Geoff Parling moves from the back row to second row with Brent Wilson filling the vacated number six shirt.
The only other change to the pack comes in the front row where England Saxon Jon Golding replaces Joe McDonnell at loosehead prop, while in the backs Tom May reverts to the right wing from full-back to make space for Mathew Tait.
Wasps Director of Rugby Ian McGeechan has called upon all his available Six Nations internationals for the game, including Danny Cipriani, Paul Sackey, Simon Shaw, Eoin Reddan, Tim Payne and England captain Phil Vickery.
“It's good to have the Six Nations boys back, even if it is just for a week, although the six-day turnaround for the players adds to the challenge,” McGeechan said.
“At the moment, our focus is on keeping our momentum and as much continuity as we can, though that is not always easy when we are putting a different starting fifteen on the field each week during the Six Nations. In addition, Newcastle currently have a good home record and we haven't won there for a while, so this game is a tough prospect for us.”
Form: Newcastle have won six of their last seven matches at Kingston Park in all competitions, including back-to-back home games in the Guinness Premiership against Worcester and Saracens. Wasps have won their last two matches in the Premiership both with maximum points – the first time they have managed try bonus points in successive encounters since the last two rounds of season 2005/06. The two sides have already met twice this season at Wycombe with Wasps running out victors on both occasions in the EDF Energy Cup and Guinness Premiership. The Londoners have lost on their last three visits to Kingston Park.
The Teams:
Newcastle: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Tom May, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Toby Flood, 11 John Rudd, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Phil Dowson (c), 7 Ben Woods, 6 Brent Wilson, 5 Mark Sorenson, 4 Geoff Parling, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Matt Thompson, 1 Jon Golding.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 David Wilson, 18 Russell Winter, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 James Grindal, 21 Tim Visser, 22 Ollie Phillips.
Wasps: 15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Fraser Waters, 12 Dominic Waldouck, 11 David Doherty, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 7 Joe Worsley, 6 John Hart, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Raphaël Ibañez, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Joe Ward, 17 Tom French, 18 Dan Leo, 19 Rob Webber, 20 Mark McMillan, 21 Dave Walder, 22 Mark Van Gisbergen.
Date: Friday 29 February, 2008
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Venue: Kingston Park
Referee: Tony Spreadbury
Touch judges: Goodliffe R. / Hughes A.
Assessor: Colin High
Television match official: Trevor Parlett