Joe back on Wasps duty
WORLD CUP PLAYER BACK IN WASPS COLOURS FOR 1ST TIME
ENGLAND lock Joe Launchbury will make his first appearance of the club season when he skippers Wasps against BordeauxBegles at Stade Chaban-Delmas tonight in round one of the European Challenge Cup (kickoff 8pm GMT, 9pm local).
The Wasps club captain returned to training this week after spending the last two months in Japan with England for the Rugby World Cup.
Director of rugby Dai Young presents opportunities to a number of first-team players, in which there will be European debuts for Jack Owlett and Sam Wolstenholme who both start, while Tim Cardall, Gabriel Oghre and Jacob Umaga could also make their European bows from the replacements bench.
Tom Willis is handed his first appearance of the season as he starts in the back row alongside brother Jack and Springbok Ashley Johnson.
Zurabi Zhvania, Tom Cruse and Owlett start in the front row with Will Rowlands standing alongside Launchbury in the second row.
The backthree brings a return to action for Rob Miller, Marcus Watson and Josh Bassett while Malakai Fekitoa recovers from a hand injury to partner Michael Le Bourgeois in the centres. Wolstenholme links up with Billy Searle in the half-back combination.
Tighthead-prop Biyi Alo is also restored to the matchday 23 and could make his first Wasps European appearance from the bench against the French side who sit second in the Top 14. Young said: “It’s been a busy few weeks in the Premiership with a number of players having picked up a lot of gametime and who need some rest. “We’ve got to make sure we don’t run out of steam and bodies down the track, so we have to rotate the squad in a way that we want to win games. “Bordeaux, Edinburgh and Agen - you could quite easily have this kind of group in the
Champions Cup, so there is a lot of quality. You’re not second in the Top 14 by accident.
“Bordeaux have scored the second-most tries and conceded the second-least so they’re a top-quality team.
“This competition is an opportunity for us to do well and build momentum and confidence.”
After the Bordeaux fixture, Wasps tackle Agen at the Ricoh Arena next Saturday and go to Edinburgh on December 6.
This competition is an opportunity for us to do well and build momentum and confidence. Dai Young
WASPS: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Marcus Watson, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Michael Le Bourgeois, 11 Josh Bassett; 10 Billy Searle, 9 Sam Wolstenholme; 1 Zurabi Zhvania, 2 Tom Cruse, Jack Owlett, Joe Launchbury (capt); 5 Will Rowlands, 6 Ashley Johnson, 7 Jack Willis , 8 Tom Willis.
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Simon McIntyre, Biyi Alo, Tim Cardall, Ben Morris, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Juan de Jongh.