Wasps look to avenge Quins’ Cup knock-out blow
WASPS boss Dai Young has revenge at the top of his list ahead of his side’s trip to Harlequins tomorrow in the fourth meeting between them this season.
Quins have claimed two wins to Wasps’ one in their match-ups this season, while Young’s men still have nightmares about Quins’ last-gasp victory in the Champions Cup in January, which effectively dumped them out of the competition.
But the black-and-golds’ squad has been strengthened by the news that Jimmy Gopperth, Gaby Lovobalavu and Matt Mullan are all set to return to firstteam action, with Tommy Taylor and Josh Bassett also involved after their AngloWelsh Cup appearance last week.
Young will hope his side can cement themselves in third in the Premiership table and with Quins missing several stars to the Six Nations, this is a glint-edged opportunity for the Coventry side to claim just a second win at the Stoop since 2013. LINE-UPS: Harlequins:
Ross Chisholm; Alofa Alofa, Joe Marchant, Jamie Roberts, Tim Visser; Marcus Smith, Dave Lewis; Lewis Boyce, Dave Ward (c), Kyle Sinckler; Ben Glynn, Charlie Matthews; James Chisholm, Luke Wallace, Mat Luamanu. Replacements: Joe Gray, Mark Lambert, Will Collier, Stan South, Archie White, Jono Kitto, Ian Prior, Aaron Morris.
Wasps: Willie Le Roux; Christian Wade, Juan De Jongh, Kyle Eastmond, Josh Bassett; Danny Cipriani, Dan Robson; Simon McIntyre, Tom Cruse, Jake CooperWoolley; James Gaskell (c), Kearnan Myall; Jack Willis, Thomas Young, Guy Thompson. Replacements: Tommy Taylor, Matt Mullan, Marty Moore, Nathan Hughes, Ashley Johnson, Joe Simpson, Jimmy Gopperth, Gaby Lovobalavu WHO’S THE REF?
Wayne Barnes will take charge of his 193rd Premiership match at the Stoop on Sunday.
The highly regarded official’s only Wasps outing this season was the loss to Saracens at the Ricoh in the black-andgolds’ last top-flight match and has not yet been in the middle for Quins.
38-year-old Barnes has handed out six yellow cards so far this term. WHAT THE BOOKIES SAY:
Wasps are slight 5/6 favourites to break their Stoop duck, while Harlequins are evens to continue their good home form. The draw is available at 20/1.
This translates into a one-point advantage in the handicap market for the black-and-golds. ONE TO WATCH: Dave Lewis With starting scrum-half Danny Care on England duty, it will be up to 28-year-old Lewis to direct the Harlequins’ attack on Sunday.
A summer signing from Exeter Chiefs, the former England Saxon has made nine appearances for the London club, scoring one try so far this term.
He has played a total of 24 minutes against Wasps this season and the battle between Lewis and Wasps’ Dan Robson is a match-up 25-year-old Robson needs to win for his side to claim victory. TACTICS BOARD:
Wasps will be hoping they can carry their form from the excellent Champions Cup win over Ulster rather than their last 15 minutes against Quins the previous week, when they threw away a nine-point lead.
Dai Young has worked hard on his side’s defensive effort in the past couple of months, with the rear-guard seeming relatively leaky at key points in games, although they barley allowed Ulster a chance at the Ricoh.
The black-and-golds will also need to be far more ruthless in attack in order to give themselves a large enough lead to defend.
But, with Quins missing several international-calibre forwards, plus livewire Danny Care, Wasps forward line should have too much power for their opponents to handle. FROM THE DUGOUT: Dai Young (Wasps director of rugby): “Us and Harlequins are getting a bit fed up of each other if I’m honest. You have to give them credit for their last performance because we totally dominated the game for 55 minutes and let it slip.
“We have a block of four games now which will pretty much determine where we’re going to sit in the league. If we get the results that we want, we should be sitting comfortably in the top four.
“We couldn’t hide away from the fact that in the last 20 minutes, they seemed to have more fire in their belly than we did. That hurts. But they picked the game up by the scruff of the neck and found a way to win. We have to make sure we don’t allow that at the weekend.” John Kingston (Harlequins director of rugby): “Last month’s match against Wasps was an absolute belter. For us to come back in the way that we did showed fantastic belief and desire, but we know they’re a good side and they’ll pose a huge threat on the weekend again.
“The next three home games against Wasps, Newcastle and Bath are going to have a significant impact on whether we will be able to sustain a genuine challenge for the top four. The crowd was massive in getting us over the line a few weeks ago, so we need them right behind the side.”