By Sparkie
September 27 2002

Wasps are Reading-bound in search of our first win on the road this season. Will it be third time lucky? Not if Irish have anything to say on the matter. Of all the "London" derbies, Irish v. Wasps is without doubt the most evenly fought contest in recent times. Quins, and of late, Saracens may think that provide the keenest opposition (delusions of grandeur) but none come tougher than Irish!

A year or so ago, both teams met at a charity dinner and our players were deemed to be arrogant and aloof. Knowing them as we do, their demeanour should have been ascribed to our trials and tribulations at that time - our ranks had been decimated through injuries. Irish vowed to turn our lads over, using the situation to motivate themselves to a double last season, as in 1997-98. Now, it is time for our players to turn the misapprehension on its head.

Irish were a revelation last year in the Premiership, qualified for a Heineken Cup place and handed a drubbing out to Northampton in the Powergen Cup final at Twickenham. The end of their season fell a little flat, it was as if they had been fully drained of their pure "genius" after their cup victory.

This season's campaign opened with a flat display too, as Bath stole an injury time win thanks to the boot of Olly Barkley. Their trip to Headingley ended in a video-nasty as Tykes turned them over in Yorkshire for the second year running, this time by the overwhelming score of 41-16. Although Irish picked up the pace while beating a ponderous Sarries team 32-10 at home, all the hard work was undone last week at the Stoop when they committed a cardinal sin by offering Quins a largely unopposed win.

Make of their results what you will, then, one thing remains constant -- against Wasps, Irish will always come out with all guns blazing. Dick Best's dour, workmanlike approach remains but since his premature departure their new coach, Brendan Venter, has instilled a sense of organization too. Irish no longer come at their opponents like a raging bull. Even when the chips are down, teamwork now takes their play to another level. Very few teams leave the Madejski Stadium with easily-won points.

That said, Warren Gatland will have pinpointed this away fixture as one of his must win games. Our defeat at Newcastle and our draw at Bath would also have been placed in this category. The three points gained from two away trips is simply not good enough if we are to achieve a top three placing.

Last week's second-half rolling-over of a very, very weak Sarries team hinted at what our aim is -- to play a fast rucking game combined with hitting the line at pace (much in the same pattern that we accomplished towards the end of the 2000/01 season under Nigel Melville).

This weekend, Irish will provide a far sterner measure of how near we are to putting this game-plan into effect. Warren Gatland has kept our lack of discipline in focus by getting a local referee to put our play at the breakdown under the microscope. If we haven't learned by now, heaven help us. It is time for our performance level to rise a notch or two so that we can keep pace with the likes of Gloucester and Leeds -- who would have thought that a year ago!

Wasps team news

No news must be good news, Howlers and Tooth Doc back, everyone fighting for their places. Kenny being benched was widely tipped last weekend. Suddenly our besplintered ones look as if they can make a real impact when called upon! John Rudd might be a little peeved to be cast aside after scoring a try against Sorries. Strength in depth is what we like to hear.

Oirish team news

Oirish make five changes to stengthen the team that went down at Harlequins last weekend. Paul Sackey returns on the left wing after illness. Justin Bishop returns from World Cup duty in Russia to take Pieter Rossouw's right wing berth due to squad rotation.

Rotation is customary in their front row: Neal Hatley and Naka Drotske start in place of Mike Worsley and Richard Kirke respectively. Ryan Strudwick moves forward to lock having played out of position at no. 8 last week - an experiment which was not altogether successful. Paul Gustard returns to fill that role. Glenn Delaney (ligaments) and Chris Sheasby (knee) are out injured.

Teams:

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

Bench: 16 Martyn Wood, 17 Mark Van Gisbergen, 18 Kenny Logan, 19 Ben Gotting, 20 Darren Molloy, 21 Joe Beardshaw, 22 Mike McCarthy.

Oirish: 15 Michael Horak*; 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Nick Burrows, 12 Geoff Appleford*, 11 Justin Bishop*; 10 Barry Everitt, 9 Darren Edwards; 1 Neal Hatley, 2 Naka Drotske*, 3 Rob Hardwick*, 4 Ryan Strudwick (Captain); 5 Bob Casey*, 6 Declan Danaher, 7 Kieron Dawson*, 8 Paul Gustard.

Bench: 16 Kevin Barrett, 17 Mark Mapletoft*, 18 James Cockle, 19 Adrian Flavin, 20 Kevin Burke, 21 Mike Worsley, 22 Pierre Durant.

Zurich Premiership Results: Wasps v. London Irish

 24 Feb 2002   17 - 31   Madejski Stadium 
 14 Oct 2001   15 - 20   Loftus Road 
 27 Dec 2000   29 - 16   Loftus Road 
 16 Dec 2000   13 - 14   Madejski Stadium 
 17 May 2000   24 - 45   The Stoop 
 10 Oct 1999   43 - 20   Loftus Road 
 14 Mar 1999   38 - 27   Loftus Road 
 19 Sep 1998   36 - 24   The Avenue 
 15 Mar 1998   19 - 38   Loftus Road 
 26 Oct 1997   17 - 22   The Avenue 
 26 Mar 1997   31 - 18   Loftus Road 
 16 Nov 1996   22 - 20   The Avenue 
 26 Mar 1994   21 - 22   Repton Ave 
 26 Feb 1994   29 - 14   The Avenue 
 13 Feb 1993   18 -  9   Repton Ave
 29 Feb 1992   13 - 18   The Avenue 

Source: Zurich Rugby Club

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