Wasps v Dragons: Teams

At Adams Park, Sunday November 2, kick-off 3pm

Last updated: 1st November 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Wasps v Dragons: Teams

Worsley: Wasps' captain

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Wasps have been forced to name a new-look team for Sunday's EDF Energy clash against the Dragons at Adams Park.

The hosts will be without eight players due to England commitments, although they do have the luxury of naming Josh Lewsey, Mark van Gisbergen and Tom Voyce in their back three.

In total there are five changes from last time out, and Wasps know they must win to maintain any hope of making the semi-finals.

Even then, if Gloucester take two points away to Newcastle it will ensure the west country side progress through from the group.

French veteran Serge Betsen starts in the back row, alongside number eight Joe Worsley, who captains the Wasps side.

New Dragon

The Dragons will hand a debut to New Zealander Hoani MacDonald, who arrived at Rodney Parade last weekend having completed his duties in the Air New Zealand Cup.

Coach Paul Turner hopes that MacDonald's arrival will boost a team determined to improve on the 3-3 result against Wasps in this competition last season.

"Hoani MacDonald arrived with us late last week and has trained well with the squad," Turner said.

"He has a difficult task ahead of him this weekend in a very different environment but he is a quality guy and a great player and I'm sure he will relish the challenge.

"We missed a huge opportunity to beat the Wasps at home last season and the squad are looking to make sure that this does not happen again."

Wasps: 15 Mark Van Gisbergen, 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Rob Hoadley, 12 Jeremy Staunton, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Dave Walder, 9 Mark Robinson, 8 Joe Worsley (c), 7 Serge Betsen, 6 John Hart, 5 Richard Birkett, 4 Dan Leo, 3 Pat Barnard, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 Tom French, 18 Tom Lindsay, 19 Hugo Ellis, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Lachlan Mitchell, 22 Mossy Lawler.

The Dragons: 15 Phillip Dollman, 14 Tal Selley, 13 Rhodri Gomer Davies, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Shaun Connor, 9 Tom Isaacs, 8 Lewis Evans , 7 Jamie Ringer, 6 Joe Bearman, 5 Andrew Hall, 4 Hoani MacDonald, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Tom Willis (c), 1 Adam Black.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Alex Murphy, 18 Dan Lydiate, 19 Adam Brown, 20 Marc Stcherbina, 21 James Arlidge, 22 Wayne Evans.