Wasps v Gloucester- Aviva Premiership match preview
Wasps have made two changes for their home clash with Gloucester this Sunday in the Aviva Premiership.
Last Updated: 17/02/13 12:40pm
Stephen Jones comes in at fly-half and Andrea Masi will line up at outside-centre after returning from international duty.
Nigel Davies has kept the same Gloucester side that clinched a hard fought 27-11 win at Northampton Saints last week.
On the bench they make four changes with Jim Hamilton, Koree Britton, Dave Lewis and Shane Monahan all coming in.
Wasps: 15 Hugo Southwell (c), 14 Christian Wade, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Chris Bell, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Sam Jones, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 James Cannon, 3 Phil Swainston, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Zak Taulafo.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Tim Payne, 18 Will Taylor, 19 Alex Rae, 20 Matt Everard, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Nick Robinson, 23 Elliot Daly.
Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Mike Tindall (capt), 12 Tim Molenaar, 11 Jonny May, 10 Ryan Mills, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Tom Savage, 5 Will James, 4 Lua Lokotui, 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Darren Dawidiuk, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Koree Britton, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Yann Thomas, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Shane Monahan, 23 Martyn Thomas.
What they said...
Wasps head coach Dai Young
"We played Gloucester down at Kingsholm and lost in September and while I would like to think we are a much better side now, they have definitely improved as well.
"Stats wise they have the best scrum in the league both on their ball and on opposition ball, and they have a good line-out too so they are going to try and take us on physically.
"We need to match that up front before we can think about anything else and we recognise what a huge challenge this fixture is."
Gloucester head coach Nigel Davies
"The players delivered at Northampton and we were pleased. But that was one of four big games in this block of rugby, and we've refocused straight away," he said.
"Wasps are a very good team. They've crept up from nowhere really in some respects. They're playing some really good rugby, they have some threats in their team and they work hard for each other.
"It's another big challenge, but we're in a good place to meet that challenge and we're looking forward to it."
