Newcastle v Wasps, 10/09/2010
By Leipziger
September 9 2010
The Falcons aim for only a third home Premiership win since March 2009 tomorrow night as we entertain Wasps at Kingston Park and hopefully kick-start our season following defeat at Sale.
Wasps began the season with a 29-29 draw against Harlequins at Twickenham last Saturday. Quins took the lead early on through a Nick Easter try but Wasps hit back, Andy Powell scoring on his debut before former England winger Tom Varndell crossed, but Mark Van Gisbergen and Nick Evans’s boots could not be separated.
Our visitors started the game with the much-criticised England props Tim Payne and Phil Vickery, who I would fancy Jon Golding and Tim Ryan against on Friday, and Tom Rees began his reign as club captain. Riki Flutey played the first game of his second spell in High Wycombe at fly-half and Richard “I always score against the Falcons but my try-scoring record at Saracens wasn’t as good as Leipy thought it was” Haughton was another debutant alongside scrum-half Nic Berry, who signed from Racing Metro this summer.
Former Newcastle hero Dave Walder has been preferred to Flutey at KP on Friday, with Danny Cipriani having left Wasps this summer. Walder was a replacement at Twickenham alongside French legend Serge Betsen and Dan Ward-Smith, once an England hopeful during his time at Bristol.
Although Wasps’ front row has come in for some criticism, not least when Golding and Carl Hayman took them apart at Adams Park in January, they are strong in the rest of the pack with Rees, Powell and the vastly-experienced Simon Shaw and Joe Worsley.
There is also huge talent in the backs with Varndell, David Lemi and Haughton on the wings, fed by the promising Dominic Waldouck and Joe Simpson, although the latter is still missing through injury, along with powerful back-rower John Hart.
Walder will have fond memories of being on the home side in this fixture, having kicked late penalties to win the points for the Falcons in 2004/05 and 2005/06, the latter being an extremely rainy day that Matthew Burke has named as one of his most prominent, if not best, memories of his time at KP.
The last time we defeated Wasps at home was on Walder’s first return in February 2007. Tries from Burke, Jamie Noon, Matt Thompson, Mark Mayerhofler and Joe McDonnell, along with two penalties and three conversions by Loki Crichton, secured a 37-11 victory, in front of over 9,000 supporters.
Since then, Wasps have won at KP on five successive occasions, including twice in the Anglo-Welsh Cup. The first of these was in October 2008 when Carl Hayman suffered an injury that kept him out for two months, the second in February this year on a farcical day that I think we’d all like to forget.
Although Alan Tait began his time in charge at KP with a home defeat to the Pests in May, the general consensus was that we saw cause for optimism. The same came out of last week’s defeat to Sale, but it would be nice if we could get some points to add to the good feelings tomorrow.
Tait has made a number of changes to his team for tomorrow, giving a debut to Luke Fielden and a first start to Redford Pennycook. Jimmy Gopperth and Micky Young return to the starting lineup and Glen Townson is on the bench for the first time. Kieran Brookes continues as reserve hooker.
15. Luke Fielden
14. Gcobani Bobo
13. Luke Eves
12. Andy Henderson
11. Charlie Amesbury
10. Jimmy Gopperth
9. Micky Young
1. Jon Golding
2. Rob Vickers
3. Tim Ryan
4. James Hudson (c)
5. Tim Swinson
6. Brent Wilson
7. Redford Pennycook
8. Ally Hogg
Replacements:
Kieran Brookes
Micky Ward
Grant Shiells
Glen Townson
Will Welch
Chris Pilgrim
Jeremy Manning
Alex Tait
Wasps give England under-20 lock James Cannon a debut, while Walder, Flutey and Van Gisbergen ensure they will have a strong kicking game to complement the pace of Haughton and Varndell. With Vickery injured, Zak Taulafo of Samoa starts in the front row alongside Payne and Rob Webber, while Ward-Smith takes Worsley’s place in the back row. Betsen and Lemi are on the bench alongside Wallaby Steve Kefu.
Despite concerns over the Wasps squad’s average age, this is a side with a lot of quality and one that will present a considerable challenge to the Falcons tomorrow night.
15. Mark Van Gisbergen
14. Richard Haughton
13. Ben Jacobs
12. Riki Flutey
11. Tom Varndell
10. Dave Walder
9. Nic Berry
1. Tim Payne
2. Rob Webber
3. Zak Taulafo
4. Simon Shaw
5. James Cannon
6. Dan Ward-Smith
7. Tom Rees (c)
8. Andy Powell
Replacements:
16. Tom Lindsay
17. Charlie Beech
18. Ben Broster
19. Serge Betsen
20. Joe Worsley
21. Charlie Davies
22. Steve Kefu
23. David Lemi
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