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Wasps' mixed week is about to get tougher and they know it
Facing current Champions Cup and PRO14 title holders Leinster is not most teams idea of fun, and Wasps head coach Dai Young could hardly hide that fact ahead of their Pool 1 clash at the Ricoh.
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This week has been a mixed bag for Wasps, it began positively with a new deal confirmed for loosehead Zurabi Zhvania, but then Willie Le Roux and Nathan Hughes and Will Stuart’s departures were confirmed. Coming in the other door are All Black duo Malakai Fekitoa and tighthead Jeff Toomaga-Allen, along with Exeter Chiefs tighthead prop Jack Owlett. To finish it with an unlikely upset win would sum up a topsy-turvy seven days for the Coventry-based club.
Leinster handed out a 52-3 thrashing to Wasps in Round 1 and the Gallagher Premiership side have only managed a single draw and four defeats overall so far in a chastening European campaign.
“It’s certainly a tough prospect, facing what is effectively the Irish national team just before the Six Nations. They’ll all be vying to impress to earn the green jersey in the coming weeks and they’ll want to do the job for Leinster,” Wasps Director of Rugby Dai Young said.
“We need to make sure we’re somewhere near our best or else it could be a tough day and we certainly don’t want that at home against any opposition.
“Leinster are a quality team as we’ve seen out there in Dublin. We were in that game for 45 minutes but then they changed gear and we couldn’t live with that. We certainly don’t want a repeat of that.
“You’ve got to keep hold of the ball and you can’t switch off as they’ve got guys that can hurt you from anywhere on the field. You don’t want them getting an early lead and getting momentum as they’re very hard to turn around.”
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And although the likes of Johnny Sexton, Rob Kearney and Dan Leavy are absent through injury, Leinster are able to restore Robbie Henshaw to the centre, Devin Toner to the second row, while flanker Sean O’Brien is in line for his first Leinster appearance since October from the bench – not a bad trio to be able to summon.
For Wasps Elliot Daly is restored to the starting line-up after a compulsory week off due to his involvement in England’s Autumn Internationals, while Gaby Lovobalavu is handed his first Wasps start since November in place of Juan de Jongh (shoulder).
Recent Wales call-up Thomas Young is also out with a shoulder knock and is replaced by Nizaam Carr, with Jake Cooper-Woolley swapping with Will Stuart at tighthead in the starting 15.
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Leinster will be chasing a bonus point in order to try and lock down a home quarter-final, seldom have there been hectic weeks like this for Wasps, both on and off the pitch.
Wasps (First-team appearances)
15. Rob Miller (93)
14. Josh Bassett (93)
13. Michele Campagnaro (5)
12. Gaby Lovobalavu (23)
11. Elliot Daly (187)
10. Lima Sopoaga (16)
9. Dan Robson (94)
1. Zurabi Zhvania (15)
2. Tom Cruse (51)
3. Jake Cooper-Woolley (123)
4. Joe Launchbury (c) (134)
5. Will Rowlands (65)
6. Brad Shields (9)
7. Nizaam Carr (25)
8. Nathan Hughes (118)
Replacements
16. Ashley Johnson (175)
17. Ben Harris (36)
18. Will Stuart (24)
19. Charlie Matthews (9)
20. Ben Morris (10)
21. Craig Hampson (26)
22. Billy Searle (10)
23. Marcus Watson (18)
Leinster Rugby (caps in brackets):
15. Jordan Larmour (32)
14. Adam Byrne (47)
13. Garry Ringrose (59)
12. Robbie Henshaw (31)
11. Dave Kearney (129)
10. Ross Byrne (61)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (64)
1. Jack McGrath (138)
2. Seán Cronin (165)
3. Tadhg Furlong (95)
4. Devin Toner (226)
5. James Ryan (25)
6. Rhys Ruddock (154) CAPTAIN
7. Josh van der Flier (70)
8. Jack Conan (84)
Replacements:
16. James Tracy (82)
17. Cian Healy (201)
18. Andrew Porter (44)
19. Scott Fardy (34)
20. Seán O’Brien (121)
21. Hugh O’Sullvan (6)
22. Noel Reid (112)
23. Rory O’Loughlin (53)
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Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments