London Wasps will be bolstered by the inclusion of England's Joe Worsley and Simon Shaw in their 23 man squad this weekend as they face Leeds Carnegie in their Guinness Premiership Round 7 clash.
Making four changes to the starting line up that secured a bonus point win over Gloucester at Kingsholm last weekend, a new centre partnership of Lachlan Mitchell and Steve Kefu will take to Adams Park in place of Ben Jacobs and the injured Dominic Waldouck. In the front row Gabriel Bocca returns to his favoured position of loose head, replacing Tim Payne currently on international duty. The last change sees Worsley back in the Wasps line up, released from England to pick up game time with the Club.
Amongst the replacements England and Lion's second row Simon Shaw is named for this first time this season, following recovery from a metatarsal injury. He is joined on the bench by Wasps academy signing for 2009/10, hooker Chris Whitehead, as well as Tom Varndell - rested last weekend after having played every minute of competitive rugby this season so far.
Looking ahead to the game, Director of Rugby Tony Hanks said, "It is great for Wasps to have Joe Worsley back from England camp this weekend and gives him the platform to earn a place in the Autumn test matches. Similarly we are really pleased to see Simon Shaw back in the Wasps mix ahead of this fixture. Gabriel Bocca also has the chance to make a return to his favoured position, where he played very well against Northampton, and Chris Whitehead picks up a first inclusion in the match 23.
"We have been really pleased with the start we have made to the league and we looked at the Gloucester and the Leeds fixture very much as a block of two before the competition again changes. We know that Leeds have shown improvement game after game and that they have taken confidence out of last weekend's game against Saracens, but our confidence is also building. We set out at the start of the season with great intent and we will be looking to build on that again with a strong performance on home turf this Sunday."
London Wasps team to face Leeds Carnegie at Adams Park on Sunday 1st November, KO 1.15pm, is:
15 Mark Van Gisbergen
14 Paul Sackey
13 Lachlan Mitchell
12 Steve Kefu
11 David Lemi
10 Dave Walder
9 Joe Simpson
1 Gabriel Bocca
2 Joe Ward
3 Ben Broster
4 George Skivington
5 Richard Birkett
6 Joe Worsley
7 Serge Betsen (C)
8 Dan Ward-Smith
16 Chris Whitehead
17 Charlie Beech
18 Bob Baker
19 Simon Shaw
20 Dan Leo
21 Warren Fury
22 Eoghan Hickey
23 Tom Varndell
Tickets for this game are on sale now. To book call 0844 225 2990 or go online at
www.wasps.co.uk.