Leicester v Wasps: Teams

Leicester head coach Marcelo Loffreda has made two personnel changes to his starting XV from the weekend's EDF Energy Cup semi-final win over Wasps for 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 starts 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.

The Tigers won 34-24 at the Millennium Stadium last time out and have won three of their last four games in all competitions and are strong at home with ten victories in their last eleven matches at Welford Road

They have won five of the last six matches against Wasps in all competitions, while Wasps have lost all 17 of their visits to Welford Road in the league.

Leader

Wasps show three changes from the weekend's game in Wales, one enforced by Lawrence Dallaglio's suspension. In his absence Raphael Ibanez takes over the captaincy.

Simon Shaw returns in the second row, having pulled out of the EDF Energy Cup defeat prior to kick-off, and Tom Rees makes his first appearance since limping out of England's RBS 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 comes in at fly-half. Rees and Shaw replace Dallaglio and Skivington, with 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 Raphael Ibanez we have a captain who will lead by example and commands the ultimate respect from all his team-mates."

Wasps have lost just one of their last nine games in the Guinness Premiership and won their last two away matches at Bath and London Irish.

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.