Preview: London Irish v London Wasps

London Irish welcome Wasps to the MadStad on Saturday with both teams looking to bounce back from defeats the previous time out. While the Irish boys will be rueing what could have been after another determined effort fell short at Welford Road, Wasps will be keen to draw a line under the heavy home defeat to Bath that has marred an otherwise decent run of form in the Premiership of late, with wins away to Gloucester and home to Tigers, as well as being the only club to come away from the Allianz Park with any points after picking up a losing bonus point at Saracens.

Saturday 30th November 2013, 15:00, Madejski Stadium
The game:
 Wasp’s early form sees them just four points off a HC spot for next season, and heading into the European break they will be keen to keep touch with the pack. Whilst Irish have a nine point buffer down to Worcester and potential relegation, they’ll want to end a five-game losing streak (including three in the Premiership) and find some domestic form ahead of the tricky games against Stade Francais and three key Premiership games over the Christmas period.

Whichever way the results goes, it is likely to be a close game – Irish have gained a bonus point in both their losses at the MadStad this season, whilst Wasps claimed a point in all three of their away AP defeats.
The teams:
London Irish:
15. James O’Connor; 14.Topsy Ojo; 13.Fergus Mulchrone; 12. Eamonn Sheridan; 11. Alex Lewington; 10. Shane Geraghty; 9. Tomás O’Leary; 1. John Yapp; 2. Jimmy Stevens; 3. Leo Halavatau; 4. George Skivington (Captain); 5. Ian Gough; 6. Jebb Sinclair; 7. Blair Cowan; 8. Chris Hala’ufia
Replacements: 16. Mike Mayhew; 17 Matt Parr; 18. Jamie Hagan; 19.Nic Rouse; 20. Ofisa Treviranus; 21. Guy Armitage; 22. Myles Dorrian; 23. Darren Allinson
Wasps:
15 Elliot Daly; 14 Christian Wade; 13 Chris Bell; 12 Charlie Hayter; 11 Will Helu; 10 Andy Goode; 9 Charlie Davies; 1 Matt Mullan; 2 Carlo Festuccia; 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley; 4 Joe Launchbury; 5 Kearnan Myall; 6 James Haskell; 7 Guy Thompson; 8 Sam Jones
Replacements
16 Neil Cochrane; 17 Simon McIntyre; 18 Taione Vea; 19 Tom Palmer; 20 Ed Jackson; 21 Joe Simpson; 22 Joe Carlisle; 23 Ben Jacobs

The players:
The fixture will be missing two exciting talents on the wing, with Marland Yarde ruled out for up to 14 weeks after picking up an injury last week against Leicester, while Tom Varndell is also nursing a long term injury for Wasps. However, there is still plenty to look for out wide for both teams, with Christian Wade returning for Wasps and Irish all-time top try scorer, Topsy Ojo, set to make his 200th appearance for the club.
Wasps have made eight changes to the team that lost to Bath last weekend, with Joe Launchbury and Will Helu also making the starting line-up having recently returned from international duty. The Irish side is largely unchanged from the Leicester game, with the two changes made both forced by injuries – Alex Lewington has shown potential in the Cup games and will be looking to make a statement following the disappointing news of Marland’s long injury absence, and Jimmy Stevens will also be hoping to stake his claim for the number 2 shirt ahead of Mike Mayhew, with David Paice also likely to miss significant time.
The battlegrounds:
Despite big improvements to last season’s disastrous start to the season defensively, Irish have still conceded 18 tries in their 8 AP games, which ranks as 4th most amongst Premiership teams this season. This could be a worrying match-up against a Wasps team that has scored the third most 5-pointers this season, racking up 19 in 8 games. Last season Varndell and Wade finished joint highest try scorers in the league with 13 apiece, and whilst Varndell might be missing, Will Helu scored his first try for Tonga last week and Wasps’ intent to get the ball to their wingers in space will test the Irish line.

Game management is likely to be key in a game that could well be decided by less than a try. Shane Geraghty has his chance at fly-half again in the absence of injured Ian Humphreys, and will need to show a calm head alongside his attacking tendencies in order to match up to his experienced counterpart Andy Goode.

This game has the potential for great entertainment, with two teams that both like to get their backlines moving and have flair outside, but of course the battle upfront will largely decide which set of backs get the most opportunities. Discipline will be key to this as both sets of forwards will look to avoid Dean Richards’ whistle. I predict a tight game in store, with discipline in the final five minutes likely to decide the outcome.