Sale v Wasps: Teams

Sale chief Philippe Saint Andre insists his side have reacted positively to their late defeat to Bath.

The Sharks came unstuck when Matt Banahan pounced late to seal a 24-20 victory for the west country outfit.

However Saint Andre has been pleased with the way his side have responded in training and is confident they will topple Wasps on Boxing Day.

Saint Andre said: "After last week's defeat at Bath, the players have all reacted positively and want to put that game behind them.

"Wasps come to Edgeley Park having found their true form and we expect a tough game against them. They have good players throughout their team and are well coached.

"We need the win to keep in touch with the Premiership leading clubs. Edgeley Park will be packed with our supporters and we want to give them a winning end to 2008."

Wasps director of rugby Ian McGeechan has made nine changes to his starting line following the 33-24 win over Saracens at Adams Park.

McGeechan is forced to rest a large proportion if his international contingent as part of the elite performance squad player agreement that stipulates internationals must be rested for one of the games in rounds 9-11 of the Guinness Premiership.

Rested

In the back division academy winger Chris Bishay comes in for Paul Sackey and Riki Flutey returns to the XV following recovery from a tight calf.

At fly-half, Dave Walder will start, with Danny Cipriani rested and young gun Joe Simpson starts at scrum-half as Irish No.9 Eoin Reddan is named on the bench.

In the front row Tom French and Joe Ward join Tim Payne, Richard Birkett returns to the second row in place of Tom Palmer and Serge Betsen and John Hart join captain Joe Worsley in the back row with James Haskell and Tom Rees also rested.

Looking ahead to the Christmas clash, McGeechan said; "Every contest against Sale is a big one and we expect this game to be no different.

"We have been forced to make changes for this Boxing Day clash having to rest a lot of our England players due to the EPS Player agreement and this will of course add to the challenge of this game."

Sale: 15 Mark Cueto, 14 Chris Bell, 13 Andy Tuilagi, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 David Doherty, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 1 Lionel Faure, 2 Marc Jones, 3 Eifion Roberts, 4 Sebastien Chabal, 5 Dean Schofield, 6 Jason White, 7 Neil Briggs, 8 JM Fernandez Lobbe (c).
Replacements: 16 Stuart Turner, 17 Andrew Sheridan, 18 Brent Cockbain, 19 Carl Fearns, 20 Dwayne Peel, 21 Mathew Tait, 22 Nick Macleod.

London Wasps: 15 Lachlan Mitchell, 14 Chris Bishay, 13 Josh Lewsey, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Dave Walder, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 John Hart, 7 Serge Betsen, 6 Joe Worsley (c), 5 Richard Birkett, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Tim Payne, 2 Joe Ward, 1 Tom French.
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 Charlie Beech, 18 George Skivington, 19 Dan Leo, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Jeremy Staunton, 22 Rob Hoadley.