Newcastle v Wasps: Teams
South African centre Corne Uys will make his Newcastle debut when the Falcons host Wasps in the Aviva Premiership on Sunday.
Last Updated: 30/09/11 2:24pm
South African centre Corne Uys will make his Newcastle debut when the Falcons host Wasps in the Aviva Premiership on Sunday.
The 29-year-old will partner Jamie Helleur in the midfield, while last season's top try-scorer Luke Fielden returns on the wing.
Will Chudley makes his first start of the season at scrum-half but among the forwards there are no changes from the side that lost to London Irish last time out.
Prolific kicker Jimmy Gopperth is wary of the threat posed by a talented Wasps unit despite the fact they have lost their last two matches.
"Wasps have had a decent start to the season and they certainly have some good players with Riki Flutey in there," Gopperth said.
"He should be at the World Cup as he is a class player and one who will cause us some problems in attack. We will have to watch out for him and their winger rapid out wide so we will have to take care of him."
Wasps have made three changes to their starting XV for the trip to Kingston Park as they look to get back on track following defeats against Sale and Exeter.
John Hart returns to skipper the side from No. 8, Hugo Southwell returns at full-back and Ben Broster comes into the front row.
Hart's return means that Ross Filipo shifts into the second row, with Marco Wentzel ruled out due to injury.
"It's an important game for us in the sense that every game of the season is important," director of rugby Dai Young said.
"What we need to ensure is that we improve in the areas that let us down last weekend, cut the penalties out and get parity up front.
"If we can do that then I'm confident we can get the right result, but travelling to a team scrapping for their first win of the season is always going to be a tough trip. We're still finding our feet as a team and I'm expecting the guys to take another step forward this weekend."
Newcastle: 15 Greg Goosen, 14 Luke Fielden, 13 Corne Uys, 12 Jamie Helleur, 11 Ryan Shortland, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch, 6 Richard Mayhew, 5 James Hudson (c), 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Ashley Wells, 2 Joe Graham, 1 Grant Shiells
Replacements: 16 Michael Mayhew, 17 Darren Fearn, 18 James Hall, 19 Glen Townson, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Chris Pilgrim, 22 Luke Eves, 23 Alex Tait.
Wasps: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Chris Bell, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Ryan Davis, 9 Nic Berry, 8 John Hart (c), 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 Joe Launchbury, 5 Ross Filipo, 4 Richard Birkett, 3 Ben Broster, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Jeremy Castex, 18 Simon McIntyre, 19 Joe Burton, 20 Matt Everard, 21 Jonah Holmes, 22 Elliot Daly, 23 Richard Haughton.
