Wasps 2ndXV Preview - A Vital Game For The 2ndXV
By AlanQuin
January 22 2005
The first of two vital games for the 2nd XV in the Zurich A League will be played at the Army Rugby Stadium at Aldershot on Monday evening against London Wasps. Kick off is at 7.30 p,m
If the 2nd XV are to have any chance of defending the trophy they won so convincingly against Northampton last season, this game and the return against the same opponents have to be won. The present League position is as follows:
Zurich A League - SOUTH
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | TB | LB | Points |
| NEC Harlequins | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 294 | 83 | 6 | 0 | 34 |
| London Wasps | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 244 | 104 | 5 | 0 | 29 |
| Gloucester | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 225 | 274 | 5 | 1 | 22 |
| London Irish | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 158 | 191 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| Bath United | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 130 | 258 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Saracens | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 112 | 253 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
Harlequins have the home and away fixtures against London Wasps to play on Monday 24th January and 28th February (at Imber Court) and an away fixture against Bath United on 28th March. Wasps have to play London Irish and Saracens in addition to the two fixtures against Quins. Neither of those opponents are likely to cause any problems for Wasps although the Exiles are sometimes difficult, while Bath are unlikely to trouble Quins.
So the two crunch games are those which have London Wasps as our opponents. It is difficult to talk about the teams since who is in the sides that take the field is not likely to be known until late on Monday afternoon. 2nd XV coach Colin Osborne says that he cannot plan their game in the same way as a first team match for precisely that reason and he just trains on the team’s own game plan.
The equivalent games last season saw Quins win convincingly at The Stoop by 64 – 22 while the return at Rosslyn Park, with a much stronger Wasps side, was only narrowly won 41- 43.
Injuries in the first team squad will clearly affect the selection. Luke Cousins, the Wanderers’ fly-half is likely to make another appearance following his excellent showing against the Army and with Adrian Jarvis not yet back from illness. Duncan James will again have the opportunity to show just how good he can be at scrum-half and Tosh Masson, Henry Barratt , Charlie Amesbury and Mike Brown are likely to be in the backs together with Joe Mbu. The power of Maama Molitika now on loan to Cardiff will be missed in the scrum, but Jim Evans will be making his first appearance since injury last September and I expect he and Robson to dominate the lineout.
Apart from their slight glitch against Oxford University when they lost, the 2nd XV have averaged 40 points a game and have won consistently. I expect them to do so again in a close fought match.