L Irish v Wasps: Teams
London Irish coach Toby Booth has named an unchanged side for Sunday's derby game against Wasps.
Last Updated: 01/04/11 1:30pm
London Irish head coach Toby Booth has named an unchanged side from the team that beat Exeter last weekend for Sunday's game against London Wasps.
The two London-based clubs meet in the Aviva Premiership desperate for points which would go a long way towards their respective play-off pushes.
The Exiles sit four points behind fourth-placed Northampton, while Wasps - six points further a drift - know anything but a victory at the Madejski Stadium would all-but end their dwindling play-off hopes.
London Irish chief Booth retains the team that accounted for Exeter in bonus point fashion last weekend, which means full-back Delon Armitage makes another start following his Rugby Football Union ban and England prop Alex Corbisiero remains on the bench.
Booth said: "We played some great rugby last weekend against Exeter and want to build on it in our performance against Wasps on Sunday.
Six changes
"With four games remaining we are still well in the hunt for a play-off position and we'll be going all out for the win on Saturday to keep us well and truly in the mix."
For Wasps, interim director of rugby Leon Holden has made six changes from the starting line-up that lost to Northampton Saints last weekend.
England World Cup winner Josh Lewsey is named on the bench for a successive weekend, however injuries rule out full-back Richard Haughton, lock Richard Birkett and flanker Joe Worsley.
Wing Christian Wade makes his first Premiership start, with Dom Waldouck partnering Riki Flutey in midfield.
Looking ahead to the game, Holden told the club's official website: "Despite a couple of injuries we have picked up, it is great to see a number of guys return to the squad who will give the team a really lift. Nobody was pleased with last week's result and the squad has worked really hard this week to avoid a repeat.
"I was very happy with how well the Wasps A team performed in the week in beating their Gloucester counterparts and to reward that effort we have brought in Christian Wade on the wing and Joe Launchbury on the bench who are two young players with a huge future at Wasps.
"As I said last week, with the middle section of the table being so tight, a run of good results at this stage could drastically change the outcome of our season."
London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage; 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Elvis Seveali'I, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Tom Homer, 10 Daniel Bowden; 9 Paul Hodgson; 1 Clarke Dermody (capt), 2 James Buckland, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 4 Nick Kennedy, 5 Bob Casey, 6 Jamie Gibson, 7 Steffon Armitage, 8 George Stowers.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Paulica Ion, 19 Gary Johnson, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Adam Thompstone, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23, Darren Allinson.
Wasps: 15 Mark van Gisbergen, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Dom Waldouck, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 David Lemi, 10 Dave Walder, 9 Joe Simpson; 1 Tim Payne, 2 Rob Webber, 3 Zak Taulafo, 4 Simon Shaw, 5 Marty Veale, 6 John Hart (capt), 7 Will Matthews, 8 Andy Powell.
16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Charlie Beech, 18 Ben Broster, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Dan Ward-Smith, 21 Nic Berry, 22 Josh Lewsey, 23 Jack Wallace.