Wasps v Northampton: Teams
Danny Cipriani will get a chance to push his bid for an England recall when Wasps tackle Northampton at Adams Park.
Last Updated: 04/10/09 6:25pm
Danny Cipriani will get a chance to stake his claims to replace full-back Delon Armitage in the England side when Wasps tackle Northampton at Adams Park.
Cipriani has found himself cast into the international wilderness after struggling to recover from a serious break to his ankle.
However the talented fly-half is back to full fitness now - and has given strong indications he is back to his best.
England currently have a void to fill at full-back with Armitage having been ruled out the November Tests, and Cipriani will look to prove he is as equally adept in the No.15 shirt as he is at fly-half.
Cipriani starts there for Wasps ahead of the benched Lachlan Mitchell, while Dave Walder will wear the No.10 jersey.
Wasps have also named Argentina prop Gabriel Bocca and back-rower Dan Ward-Smith in the side, with Tim Payne and Joe Worsley rested.
"We have made changes to the line up to give Tim Payne and Joe Worsley one of their rest weekends as part of the EPS agreement," said director of rugby Tony Hanks.
"We also see Danny Cipriani move to full back and Dave Walder start at 10. I think there is great interchangability in these positions and we feel this is the right fit for this game. We are lucky to have a depth at talent at fly half and Cips has shown his ability at full back over the seasons past.
Strong
"We have every ambition to uphold our home record - we had a good run at Adams Park last season and want that to continue.
"We know Northampton have made a strong start to their campaign so it will be a highly competitive game which should give supporters a pretty good afternoon of rugby."
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder has called on his side to raise their game against Wasps - despite having collected a bonus point win over Leeds last time out.
"We had an excellent 15 minutes against Leeds during which we scored four tries, but we did not play to our potential for most of the rest of the match," he said.
"This will not be good enough on Sunday. Wasps have started the season very well and have not lost at Adams Park for nearly a year. They have some very dangerous runners like Tom Varndell who have scored plenty of tries and a tough pack of forwards who have been producing good ball.
"We need improvement in all areas of our game to be competitive throughout the match, but our players have been training hard all week and are excited by the challenge ahead of them."
Wasps:15 Danny Cipriani, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Ben Jacobs, 12 Dom Waldouck, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Dave Walder, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 John Hart, 7 Serge Betsen, 6 Dan Ward-Smith, 5 Richard Birkett, 4 George Skivington, 3 Phil Vickery (c), 2 Rob Webber, 1 Gabriel Bocca.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Charlie Beech, 18 Ben Broster, 19 Dan Leo, 20 Will Matthews, 21 Warren Fury, 22 Eoghan Hickey, 23 Lachlan Mitchell.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Chris Mayor, 12 James Downey, 11 Bruce Reihana, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Mark Easter, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Regardt Dreyer.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Soane Tonga'uiha, 18 Santiago Bonorino, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Neil Best, 21 Alan Dickens, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Joe Ansbro.