2011/12 Aviva Premiership Match Preview: London Wasps Vs Northampton Saints
Northampton Saints will be looking forward to register their fourth win of the season when they take on the London Wasps in their upcoming match of thei 2011/12 Aviva Premiership campaign.
London Wasps will host the Saints at Adams Park, Wycombe on Sunday, November 6.
London Wasps currently are better placed in the 2011/12 Aviva Premiership table as compared to the Northampton Saints.
Wasps are placed at the 5th position with their 18 points with their four wins in the season out of their seven games, which they have played in the tournament so far. They have
lost thrice and have secured one a try bonus point and a losing bonus point. They have the same number of points as the 4th ranked Bath Rugby and 6th ranked London Irish.
Saints on the other hand have just three wins out of their seven games in the season. They are currently ranked ninth on the table with 14 points and they too have a try bonus point and losing
bonus point each.
Wasps have made just one change in their squad, which was forced by the injury to Steve Thompson. The player sustained his injury in the game against the Worcester Warriors at Sixways Stadium.
Rob Webbers replaced Thompson in the starting lineup while Tom Lindsay gets a game. Lindsay will start the match from the bench.
London Wasps head coach, Dai Young, has termed Northampton Saints as very tough competitors and said that beating them is a huge challenge for the Wasps. He added, “They have one of the best
scrums in Europe and we are going to be massively tested in that department. They have a very dangerous backline as well who will punish us if we kick poorly so we need to be very accurate.”
Young expressed his confidence that his side will continue with their momentum and continue their impressive run in the season. He has expressed his pleasure on the overall character, teamwork
and fighting spirit of the team.
Northampton Saints, Director of Rugby, Jim Mallinder has termed Adams Park as very tough place. He added, “Wasps have started the season well and shown they can compete at the top end of the
Premiership table. They have also had some excellent results against the likes of Saracens and Worcester.”
Both teams have announced their match day squads for their weekend encounter. The squads detail is given below
London Wasps
Starting XV: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Chris Bell, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Nick Robinson, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 John Hart (c), 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 Richard Birkett, 5 Marco
Wentzel, 4 Ross Filipo, 3 Ben Broster, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Zak Taulafo, 18 Jeremy Castex, 19 Joe Burton, 20 Matt Everard, 21 Nic Berry, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Chris Mayor.
Northampton Saints
Starting XV: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 Tom May, 11 Vasily Artemyev, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Phil Dowson, 6 Calum Clark, 5 Mark Sorenson, 4 Courtney
Lawes, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Doran Jones, 19 Samu Manoa, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 George Pisi.
Tags: