Teams up for the Estate Agents - Gopps on the Bench

[Rossm]

15 Willie Le Roux (53)
14 Marcus Watson (26)
13 Elliot Daly (191)
12 Gaby Lovobalavu (32)
11 Josh Bassett (102)
10 Lima Sopoaga (22)
9 Joe Simpson (254)
1 Zurabi Zhvania (21)
2 Ashley Johnson (c) (184)
3 Kieran Brookes (15)
4 Will Rowlands (73)
5 Kearnan Myall (132)
6 Brad Shields (12)
7 Nizaam Carr (34)
8 Nathan Hughes (122)

Replacements
16 Tom Cruse (60)
17 Simon McIntyre (156)
18 Jake Cooper-Woolley (128)
19 Charlie Matthews (12)
20 Ben Morris (18)
21 Craig Hampson (30)
22 Jimmy Gopperth (78)
23 Juan de Jongh (46)

Jimmy Gopperth is named in a matchday 23 for the first time this season as Wasps prepare for an all-important clash with Saracens at Ricoh Arena in Round 20 of the Gallagher Premiership on Saturday (kick-off 4.30pm).

The versatile back makes his long-awaited return to be named among the replacements after he sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury in pre-season which has seen him sidelined for the past eight months.

Meanwhile, in the starting line-up, Will Rowlands and Kearnan Myall deputise for the injured second row duo of Joe Launchbury (achilles/calf) and James Gaskell (calf), while Kieran Brookes prepares for his first start at tighthead since December.

Ashley Johnson starts at hooker and will captain the side, while his next try would see him reach the 200-point milestone for the Club.

The men in Black and Gold sit fifth in the league table and are just three points off Harlequins in the fourth and final play-off spot, as they look to make it three victories in a row after bonus-point wins over Worcester Warriors and Exeter Chiefs.

Wasps Director of Rugby Dai Young said: “Nothing short of a big performance will do at the weekend.

“Sarries were excellent in their Heineken Champions Cup semi-final win over Munster. They never really looked under pressure against a very good Munster team so we know how good we’re going to have to be to get a result on Saturday.

“Our goal is to win both of our remaining games at the Ricoh and to finish the season strongly. We’re not talking about top six or top four, we’re just talking about the next game.”

Damn. Joe and Jamma both injured.

[Neils]

Nice to see the EAs resting some major players - not.

[Tervueren]

They are probably sh&^*ing purple-bricks after seeing what happened to Exeter.

[andermt]

Estate Agents

FORWARDS:
Mako Vunipola (159),
Jamie George (215),
Titi Lamositele (73),
Maro Itoje (109),
George Kruis (174),
Mike Rhodes (90),
Calum Clark (37),
Billy Vunipola (100).
BACKS:
Alex Goode (287),
David Strettle (153),
Alex Lozowski (87),
Nick Tompkins (96),
Liam Wiliams (27),
Owen Farrell (189),
Ben Spencer (153).

REPLACEMENTS: Joe Gray (, Richard Barrington (166), Vincent Koch (63), Will Skelton (55), Schalk Burger (74), Richard Wigglesworth (228), Dom Morris (11), Alex Lewington (25).

[AKWasp]

To be fair, we beat a first choice Exeter team and while Joe and Jamma will be a huge miss, we still have enough quality in that squad to get a result.

Hoping the game last week will have taken a little bit out of those Sarries players which might just give us an edge.

Very excited to see Jimmy back.

[Rossm]

They are probably sh&^*ing purple-bricks after seeing what happened to Exeter.

LOL. Very good.

[JonnyD]

We do look seriously weaker without our first choice locks.
This one really worries me a little. Can we raise ourselves to match last weeks intensity? If not that is a serious Sarries team who need the win to secure second place

[Heathen]

I think Sarries have taken the approach that they need to rest up either this week or next, ahead of the Heiny Final. Obviously decided that we will be the easier challenge of the two games.

[Rossm]

I think Kieran will be licking his lips at the prospect of scrummaging against Mako tomorrow.

[jamestaylor002]

Well Dai got what he wanted - strong looking Sarries side!