Danny benched for Shaw's double ton
Fri, 09 May 2008 14:49
England's star flyhalf Danny Cipriani is on the bench for London Wasps' decisive Guinness Premiership encounter with relegation bound Leeds Carnegie at Headingley Carnegie on Saturday.
Following their crucial midweek victory at Newcastle, Jeremy Staunton will wear the Wasps No.10 jumper.
Wasps must win their match at Headingley Carnegie to be sure of a semifinal place, but with all the six matches kicking off at the same time, they must also chase a bonus point if they want to have a chance of a home semifinal.
But all eyes will be on Simon Shaw, who will contest his 200th Premiership games – the first player ever to reach a double century of league appearances.
Shaw made his league debut for Wasps against London Irish in October 1997, and has since celebrated 122 league wins (11 drawn, 66 lost), scoring 18 tries and a drop-goal over the last 10-and-a-half years. The drop-goal, against Bath in August 2000, makes Shaw the only lock in the history of the league to have achieved this feat!
Shaw, whose success with England this season has limited him to 11 appearances in Wasps current league campaign, is also a veteran of two British Lions tours and was a member of England's 2003 World Cup wining squad as well as playing for England in the 2007 World Cup Final.
He won London Wasps' Players' Player of the Year Award in 2003, and was voted Premiership Player of the Season in 2004. He has also played in every Final contested by Wasps since he joined the club, collecting three Premiership winners medals, two Heineken Cup, two Tetley Bitter Cup, one Parker Pen European Shield and one Powergen Cup winners medal.
Shaw is named in a much changed team from that which ran in four tries against Newcastle on Wednesday as Director or Rugby Ian McGeechan once again looks to refresh his team during Wasps busy end of season schedule.
Two personnel changes in the backs hand starts to Mark Van Gisbergen and Jeremy Staunton. Staunton replaces Cipriani, who takes a turn on the bench after having started Wasps two previous games in the last week.
Josh Lewsey is similarly rested, making way for Van Gisbergen, with Riki Flutey moving from fullback to his more accustomed centre role.
Seven changes in the forwards mean only James Haskell remains from Wednesday's victory, all seven changes made to refresh the pack following the quick three day turn around.
The team is captained by Lawrence Dallaglio, in his last regular league game before he retires at the end of the season.
Looking ahead to the game, Director of Rugby Ian McGeechan said: "We have had some big results over the last three months, and our success has been down to an excellent squad effort, in which every player has played his part.
"The game against Leeds is critical to our play off fortunes, and so it's essential we maintain our focus and squad mentality in this game.
"This season it has been obvious that every game in the Guinness Premiership has been very competitive. Leeds have remained a difficult team to play against all year, and gave us a very competitive game at Adams Park earlier in the season. I'm sure it will be no different tomorrow."
Wasps: 15 Mark Van Gisbergen, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Dominic Waldouck, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Jeremy Staunton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (captain), 7 James Haskell, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Michael Holford, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 1 Tom French.
Replacements: 16 Joe Ward, 17 Tim Payne, 18 Richard Birkett, 19 Rob Webber, 20 Mark McMillan, 21 Josh Lewsey, 22 Danny Cipriani.
Date: Saturday, May 10
Venue: Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Headingley
Kick-off: 15.00 (14.00 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Small
Touch judges: Alan Hughes, Don Helme
TMO: David Hudson
