>> Gopperth: Authorities must rectify fixture mess
SARACENS boss Mark McCall has urged his side to produce a more complete 80-minute performance against Wasps today before embarking on their European adventure. The director of rugby,
right, said: “We’ve been pretty inconsistent. We’ve played some good halves of rugby and some mediocre halves of rugby.
“We are playing against an outstanding team. They’ve lost by small margins and have got great players across their team – players who can hurt you from long distance. They’ve hurt us from long distance over the last couple of years. But they’ve also got real grunt in their pack and a fantastic back row. We are expecting a very difficult game.”
Captain Brad Barritt makes his 200th appearance for the club who make six changes from the XV which beat Worcester last time out. Luke Williams, Marcelo Bosch and Richard Wigglesworth return in the back line while Mako Vunipola, Juan Figallo and Nick Isiekwe are named in the pack. Saracens, whose only Premiership defeat this season was 31-21 at Bath in round two, are unbeaten in their last 17 home league matches.
Springbok star Willie le Roux returns at full-back for Wasps with Rob Miller moving to fly-half. With Danny Cipriani set for a long spell on the sidelines the club have opted to rest Jimmy Gopperth ahead of Friday’s match with Ulster.
Matt Mullan, Ashley Johnson and Marty Moore form a new front row as lock Marcus Garratt and flanker Jack Willis are included among the forwards.
Last season’s top Premiership try scorer Christian Wade is on the bench, while lock Joe Launchbury is rested.
Dai Young’s side go into today’s clash looking to avoid a fourth straight defeat, having lost to Harlequins, Exeter and Bath.
They have not lost four Premiership matches in a row since March 2014 and Young said: “All sides go through periods where they’re missing a number of front line players.
“We’ve hit that period early on in the season, but it’s what building a quality squad is about.
“I have faith in every player in our squad that they will do a really good job for us every time they wear the Wasps shirt.
“It’s a good opportunity for some of our younger guys coming through to show what they can against one of the toughest opponents in Europe.
“We also have a couple of guys returning from injury which is great to see. We’ll give it everything and look to put right the areas of our performance we haven’t been happy with over the past couple of weeks.”