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Preview: Leicester v Wasps

Friday 28th March 2008

Move aside: Corry moves to blindside as Jordan Crane slots in at number eight

Leicester Head Coach Marcelo Loffreda has made two personnel changes to his starting XV from last weekend's EDF Energy Cup semi-final win over Wasps for this Saturday's Guinness Premiership clash against the same opposition.

Jordan Crane comes in at number eight, with Martin Corry moving in to the number six jersey, and Argentina's Marcos Ayerza starting at loosehead prop.

Ayerza's elevation to the starting XV means Leicester include seven internationals in the pack, with a further six named in the backs.

Wasps show three changes from last weekend's game, one enforced by Lawrence Dallaglio's suspension. In his absence Raphaël Ibañez takes over the captaincy.

Simon Shaw returns in the second row, having pulled out of last week's defeat prior to kick-off, and Tom Rees makes his first appearance since limping out of England's Six Nations game against Wales.

In a back line shuffle, Josh Lewsey moves to the wing in place of David Doherty and Danny Cipriani shifts to full back, Dave Walder coming in at fly-half. Rees and Shaw replace Dallaglio and Skivington, the latter moving to the bench.

"We are under no illusions about the size of the challenge we face at Leicester, but we have gone about our preparations this week with a quiet determination to give a better account of ourselves than we did last weekend, when we didn't play to our potential," said Head Coach Shaun Edwards.

"It's good to have Tom Rees back, and we will all be hoping he gets an injury free run to the end of the season, and in Raphaël Ibañez we have a captain who will lead by example and commands the ultimate respect from all his team-mates."

Form: Leicester Tigers and Wasps clash for a second successive week following their meeting in the EDF Energy Cup semi-final at Millennium Stadium on Saturday, where the Tigers won 34-24. Leicester have won three of their last four games in all competitions and have won ten of their last eleven matches at Welford Road. Wasps have lost just one of their last nine games in the Guinness Premiership: 17-18 at Gloucester on 26 January. Wasps have won their last two away matches at Bath and London Irish but have not won three in a row away from home since season 2004/05. Leicester have won five of the last six matches they have played against Wasps in all competitions, whilst Wasps have visited Welford Road on 17 previous occasions for a league match and lost them all.

The Teams:

Leicester: 15 Johne Murphy, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Seru Rabeni, 12 Dan Hipkiss, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Tom Croft, 6 Martin Corry, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 George Chuter, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Julian White, 18 Richard Blaze, 19 Brett Deacon, 20 Christophe Laussucq, 21 Sam Vesty, 22 Ollie Smith.

Wasps: 15 Danny Cipriani, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Fraser Waters, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Josh Lewsey, 10 Dave Walder, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 John Hart, 7 Tom Rees, 6 James Haskell, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Raphaël Ibañez (c), 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 James Buckland, 17 Pat Barnard, 18 Tom French, 19 George Skivington, 20 Mark McMillan, 21 Dominic Waldouck, 22 Rob Webber.

Date: Saturday 29 March, 2008
Kick-off: 14:45 GMT
Venue: Welford Road
Referee: Chris White
Touch judges: Peter Huckle, Steve Terheege
Television match official: Brian Abrahams, Graham Hughes