
Premiership Preview – Wasps
Newcastle Falcons make a first visit to the Ricoh Arena this weekend as they take on Wasps in Aviva Premiership Rugby round 11.
Kicking off at 2pm, Dai Young’s side will be a tough test, having won three of five Premiership home games so far this season and taken a hard fought 11-24 win over Northampton Saints, last time out at Franklins Gardens.
It is an opportunity for a number of players on both sides to reacquaint with former clubs, with the Wasps squad containing ex Falcons Jimmy Gopperth and Rob Miller and the Falcons ranks including Andy Goode and Taione Vea.
The last meeting between the two sides came almost a year ago at Kingston Park when a pulsating Aviva Premiership encounter ended in a 23 all draw.
The Falcons seized the lead with 16mins remaining through Juan Pablo Socino’s intercept try, which saw the Argentine centre evade the attentions of Christian Wade and Joe Simpson to run in a 60 meter effort.
Wasps however bounced back through replacement Guy Thompson, who tied the scores with ten minutes to go and ensured the spoils would be shared in front of 7,547 fans.
Having gone within a whisker of securing a win over London Irish in their last Aviva Premiership away game, victory for the Falcons on Saturday would enable the club to further close the gap to the teams above them in the league table.
Saturday’s game will be broadcast live via BBC Radio Newcastle while the club’s official twitter feed and fans app will carry live text commentary.
Both teams will announce their match day 23s at Noon on Friday.