Wasps v London Irish: Teams

Wasps host London Irish in a crucial Guinness Premiership derby clash between sides with play-off aspirations.

Tony Hanks' fifth-placed side currently sit four points behind the fourth-placed Exiles, having played a game more than their opponents.

It will be the third time the two sides have met this term, with honours even so far after the Exiles won their Guinness Premiership clash 28-16 before Wasps avenged that defeat with a 24-20 LV= Cup success.

This clash will also see flanker Joe Worsley make his landmark 200th Guinness Premiership appearance.

The England and Lions star is named in a Wasps side that shows only two changes to the starting line up which suffered a narrow 14-9 defeat at Northampton Saints last Saturday, with David Lemi named on the wing in place of Paul Sackey and Ben Broster in for Zak Taulafo.

Sackey and Taulafo join the replacements, along with Warren Fury in place of the injured Dan Leo.

Wasps' Director of Rugby Hanks believes home advantage could prove crucial in this encounter between the two sides.

He said: "Sunday's game will be the third time we've played London Irish this season, but it's the first time we get to host them at Adams Park and we are pleased to back on home turf ready for what we expect to be a fast and physical game.

"A lot of the players and coaches from both sides know each other well and I think that adds to the mutual respect whilst making some of the individual match-ups that bit more exciting.

"This game is very important in terms of our hopes of making the top four and the Guinness Premiership play-offs.

"We want to be in control of our own destiny and to do that we need four wins, starting with a good performance on Sunday.

"Our home record of late has been strong, and whilst we're disappointed at our recent away form, the fixture at Northampton gave us a lot to be proud of and a lot to build on."

Unchanged Exiles

London Irish name an unchanged starting line-up to the side which thrashed Sale Sharks 38-0 last weekend.

That five-try home victory provided the Exiles' players and coaches with a timely confidence boost ahead of this crucial clash.

Head Coach Bob Casey said: "Our performance last weekend was great for confidence going into this important series of fixtures.

"It was good to score five tries and defend well on the back of a dominant display by our forwards.

"We expect this Sunday's match to be much harder. Regardless of the competition, fixtures between Wasps and ourselves are always very competitive and accuracy at the breakdown is usually the decisive factor."

Bob Casey, who made his 200th appearance for the Exiles last weekend, captains the team.

Wasps: 15 Mark Van Gisbergen, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Dom Waldouck, 12 Steve Kefu, 11 David Lemi, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Joe Simpson, 1 Tim Payne, 2 Rob Webber, 3 Ben Broster, 4 Dan Ward-Smith, 5 George Skivington, 6 Joe Worsley, 7 Tom Rees (c), 8 John Hart.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Zak Taulafo, 18 Bob Baker, 19 Serge Betsen, 20 Warren Fury, 21 Paul Sackey, 22 Dave Walder, 23 Ben Jacobs.

London Irish: 15 Peter Hewat, 14 John Rudd, 13 Elvis Seveali'I, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Delon Armitage, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Paul Hodgson, 1 Dan Murphy, 2 James Buckland, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 4 Kieran Roche, 5 Bob Casey (c), 6 George Stowers, 7 Steffon Armitage, 8 Chris Hala'Ufia.
Replacements:16 Danie Coetzee, 17 James Tideswell, 18 Alex Corbisiero, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Chris Malone, 22 Mike Catt, 23 Tom Homer.