Z Preview: Wasps v. Sorries

Pressure on
By Sparkie
September 20 2002

Wasps welcome Saracens to Adams Park on Sunday. Arrive early or the lack of car parking and the Countryside Alliance will cause you to miss most of the first half. By that time either Andy Goode will have kicked Sorries into an unassailable lead or Wasps will be two tries up.

A little under three years ago the former scenario carried the day when Thierry Lacroix kicked 9 penalty goals at Vicarage Road to steal the match from a full strength Wasps team which had scored three tries. 27-26, a rare but typically narrow win for our north London rivals. Saracens have never beaten us by more than six points in a league encounter.

This time round we might expect a vintage match but after Sorries sad decline at the hands of supposedly struggling Irish, who knows? Buck Shelford's selection policy last weekend was certainly curious given that the season is still fresh. Coaches are resorting to rotating key positions, chiefly the front row positions, but leaving the likes of Thomas Castaignède on the bench when Irish are making hay is a touch generous. Shelford offers no such charity to us this weekend. Expect a full blooded encounter.

Sorries 45-30 win on the road at Bristol points to how well they can play when they put their minds to the task. Tries from their cheeky fullback, new stand-off Goode, Shanklin and a brace from O'Mahoney swept Bris away. Bris made us suffer as a consequence tightening up their defence and kicking as many goals as possible.

The same week Sorries put Bath to the sword 28-3 at home but eased off on the hapless blues and failed to pick up a bonus point (Castanets, Russell and Ross crossed the Bath line). Wind on another week and Bath's late backlash almost nicked all the points off us, even though we scored three tries.

This week, the backlash had better come from our boys. David Flatman is back to bolster Sorries mobile front row. Their second row is an unknown quantity but as locks are the rising stars of the premiership we should expect a keen contest. Phil Greening should aim to improve on a decent throwing perfromace last week. The backrow battle between Lions Hill and Dallaglio is a rarity - both men have missed recent exchanges.

Behind the pack the eagerly anticipated confrontation between England and Wales is put on hold. Rob Howley is benched, perhaps down to his finger dislocation and sore shoulder or perhaps due to squad rotation. Martyn Wood will be keen to make an impression this seasonafter injuring his knee at the Middlesex Sevens.

During the summer months we declined to take up the option to sign Andy Goode from Leicester. He pitched up at Vicarage Road and made an immediate impact as first choice stand-off. The man we signed instead, Mark Van Gisbergen, has been training with us for a week or two now. The pressure is on Alex King to keep his jersey. So far he has risen to the occasion with the boot but he must be anxious about getting the backs to flow. Sorries look to have the edge here.

The biggest question mark from last week's draw was over Kenny Logan's form. Four lapses from our Scot were not quite cancelled out by a certain try stopping interception and more is expected from the Stirling winger. Shane Roiser misfortune through injury is Kenny's good fortune. Logan stays put, Josh Lewsey moves onto Shane's wing and Paul Sampson gets the chance to snuff out the Gallic threat. Grasp the nettle, Ken! You weren't so far away from scoring the match winner at the Rec.

Teams

Wasps: 15 Paul Sampson; 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Stuart Abbott, 12 Mark Denney, 11 Kenny Logan; 10 Alex King, 9 Martyn Wood; 1 Craig Dowd, 2 Phil Greening, 3 Will Green, 4 Simon Shaw, 5 Richard Birkett, 6 Joe Worsley, 7 Paul Volley, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio.

Replacements: 16 Rob Howley, 17 Mark Van Gisbergen, 18 John Rudd, 19 Ben Gotting, 20 Joe Beardshaw, 21 Michael McCarthy, 22 Darren Molloy.

Saracens: 15 Thomas Castaignède; 14 Tom Shanklin, 13 Ben Johnston, 12 Kevin Sorrell, 11 Darragh O'Mahony; 10 Andy Goode, 9 Kyran Bracken (capt.); 1 David Flatman, 2 Joe Ross, 3 Johnny Marsters, 4 Stuart Hooper, 5 Craig Yandell, 6 Kris Chesney, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Ben Russell.

Replacements: 16 Matt Cairns, 17 James Parkes, 18 Abdel Benazzi, 19 Ryan Peacey, 20 Morgan Williams, 21 Nicky Little, 22 Adryan Winnan.