Leeds Carnegie v London Wasps Saturday 10th May 3pm
Current Form
· Nothing but pride at stake for the home side on Saturday but London Wasps will be going all-out for the bonus point victory that may see them snatch second place in the league and a home tie in the Premiership semi-finals.
· Despite being relegated, Leeds are still battling and went down 43-20 to London Irish at the Madejski Stadium last Sunday. They are now 19 points behind next-to-bottom Worcester.
· Leeds have played 10 matches at home this season, losing 8 and beating Worcester and Newcastle.
· London Wasps beat Newcastle 32-13 at Kingston Park on Wednesday night and moved into third position in the Premiership table. A bonus point victory on Sunday might be good enough for them to grab second place, but is dependent on the outcome of the top of the table clash at Kingsholm.
· London Wasps have played 10 matches away from home this season, winning 5, losing 3 and drawing 2.
History
· Leeds and Wasps have met 11 times in Premiership rugby dating back to 2001.
· Leeds have never beaten Wasps but they drew 27-27 at Adams Park in November 2002.
· They have met 5 times at Headingley and Wasps have won them all.
· Wasps beat Leeds 64-14 the first time they met in 2001 which was the biggest defeat Leeds had ever suffered in the Premiership until losing 66-7 to Saracens in March this year.
· Alex King scored 29 points for Wasps against Leeds in 2001 which is the most points ever by a Wasps player in a Premiership match.
· Wasps beat Leeds 25-17 at Adams Park in January this year.
Trends and Trivia
· Leeds play their final Premiership match for at least a season having accumulated a record low number of points this season. They have only 12 points which is well short of their previous low of 28 in both 2001/02 and 2005/06. Since the introduction of 4 points for a win and bonus points in 2000/01, Rotherham only managed 12 points in 2000/01 and set the record low for points gained in the Premiership under the new system in 2003/04 when they only managed 3.
· Leeds have only scored 15 tries away from home this season, the lowest number they have ever scored in the Premiership.
· They have also only scored 15 tries at home this season with Saturday’s game to come. The lowest they have scored to date is 16 in 2004/05.
· The 30 tries is the lowest number they have ever scored in a Premiership season. They scored 34 in 2004/05 and if they are going to equal or beat this figure they are going to have to do something they have not managed so far this season, score at least 4 tries in a match.
· Leeds have scored 308 points this season. Their previous lowest was 363 the last time they were in the Premiership in 2005/06.
· Leeds have now conceded 687 points in the Premiership this season which exceeds the 654 points they conceded in their first season in the Premiership in 2001/02.
· 687 points is the most conceded in a Premiership season since Rotherham conceded 770 in 2003/04.
· On a positive note, with Saturday’s match to play, Leeds have attracted 71779 spectators to Headingley this season for an average of 7178. Their highest attendance was the 11116 against Sale and the lowest 3841 for the visit of Bristol. Their previous highest season attendance total was 61308 in 2004/05.
· Alberto Di Bernardo has scored 114 points for Leeds this season and Tom Biggs has scored 6 tries.
· Joe Bedford and Leigh Hinton have both played in all 21 Premiership matches for Leeds this season.
· London Wasps have now won 13 matches this season which is the most they have won in the Premiership since 204/05.
· Wasps have only converted 48 penalty goals this season which is the fewest since 1999/00 when they only kicked 46.
· London Wasps lost 3 matches at home this season. The last time they lost as many as 3 matches at home in a Premiership season was in 2001/02.
· After their win at Newcastle on Wednesday, London Wasps are now the top scorers in the Premiership this season with 554 points.
· They have, however, conceded 431 points this season, the most by any team in the top 7 positions in the Premiership.
· Danny Cipriani has scored 188 points for Wasps this season and is now second behind Charlie Hodgson in points scored in the Premiership.
· Cipriani has kicked 37 conversions for Wasps this season, the most by any player in the Premiership.
· Paul Sackey leads the Wasps try scorers with 7 this season.
· Simon Shaw replaced George Skivington after 59 minutes at Newcastle on Wednesday to extend his number of appearances in the Guinness Premiership to 199. On Saturday at Leeds he will become the first player in Premiership history to make 200 appearances.
· Danny Cipriani, Tim Payne and Joe Ward have all played in19 Premiership matches for Wasps this season. |
