16 September 2005
19-year old Jordan Crane will make his GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP debut on Sunday after being named at number eight for the Tykes. Crane, who joined the Tykes two seasons ago after leaving Colston College in Bristol made seven appearances last season for the first team in Europe but has not appeared in the Premiership yet.
Crane is the current England U19 captain and can play anywhere in the back row but is predominantly a number eight.
Phil Davies looked ahead to the Tykes game against reigning Premiership Champions London Wasps this Sunday at Headingley, and said "We are all obviously disappointed with the results from our first two games but I have been encouraged by the players desire and commitment both during games and in training. The efforts of the team are in the right place and we now need to make sure we finish off the opportunities that we are creating. We are developing a new style of play which will help us create opportunities and threats across the field but I accept that as we try to develop that style mistakes will happen. We are looking to create a diverse game plan that can pose different problems for individual teams in both the Premiership and Europe and that will take time."
"Since last season we have replaced a number of key positions within our squad. Justin Marshall has come in for Alan Dickens, Gordon Bulloch for Mark Regan and, partly due to the injury to Chris Bell, our centre combination. Whilst there is no doubting the quality of the players we now have, inevitably it will take time to get the cohesion that existed last season with those players who had been here for three or four years.
Some of the skill levels shown by our players at times have been fantastic in both games and gives us real encouragement that we are not far away from the finished article.
The sharpness and precision is certainly there in training but we have to be able to execute that in the pressure situation of a game. That relies upon correct decision making and communication to enable us to execute the opportunities that we have, and will continue to, produce."
"Wasps achievements in recent years speak for themselves. Wasps will present a big challenge for us on Sunday but one that we are looking forward to. We have always had very competitive games against Wasps including the two games last season however we are yet to get over the final hurdle and actually beat them. They have quality players right across the team and are continuing to recruit top class youngsters to continue their current run of success. With the emergence of players like Tom Rees, Ayoola Erinle and Jonny O'Connor they are certainly putting in firmed foundations for the future."
The team in full is:
1. Mike Shelly
2. Rob Rawlinson
3. Gavin Kerr
4. Chris Murphy
5. Tom Palmer
6. Jon Dunbar
7. Richard Parks
8. Jordan Crane
9. Justin Marshall
10. Roland De Marigny
11. David Doherty
12. Andre Snyman
13. Chris Jones
14. Tom Biggs
15. Iain Balshaw (C)
16. Michael Cusack
17. Gordon Bulloch
18. Stuart Hooper
19. Scott Morgan
20. Danny Care
21. Gordon Ross
22. Tim Stimpson
Issued on behalf of London Wasps
London Wasps Director of Rugby, Ian McGeechan, has announced his twenty-two that will travel to Leeds for Sunday's GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP Round Three match.
Matt Dawson makes his first start of the season at scrum-half, whilst hooker Ben Gotting is also due to make his first Guinness Premiership start of 2005-6. John Hart comes back in to captain the team and replace the injured Tom Rees at six.
With Gotting and Dawson starting, Ibanez and Reddan, both starters in Wasps draw against Leicester last Saturday, feature on the bench alongside Ayoola Erinle, back to full fitness after an ankle problem that kept him out of the 22 last weekend.
Looking forward to the journey to Yorkshire this weekend, McGeechan said, "It is Leeds' first home game and our first game on the road in 2005-6, and we know how tough that will be. This sort of match is very much when the character of the side needs to come out.
"We are able to make changes to the starting fifteen because of the strong competition for places, which allows us the luxury of being able to welcome back players of the calibre of John Hart, as captain, into the team."
London Wasps team is:
15 Mark Van Gisbergen
14 Paul Sackey
13 Fraser Waters
12 Stuart Abbott
11 Tom Voyce
10 Alex King
9 Matt Dawson
1 Tim Payne
2 Ben Gotting
3 Jon Dawson
4 Simon Shaw
5 Richard Birkett
6 John Hart (c)
7 Jonny O'Connor
8 Joe Worsley
16 Raphael Ibanez
17 Peter Bracken
18 Martin Purdy
19 Mark Lock
20 Eoin Reddan
21 James Brooks
22 Ayoola Erinle |
