Match Preview

A rare Saturday run out for the Wasps as they host the Vagabonds in a lunchtime curtain raiser, 12.30 kick off. A feast of rugby at Mint Bridge as the 1st XV host Hull at 3pm. After a great win on the road to Chester Devas a fortnight ago, the Wasps look to kick on from a promising show last time out.

The squad looks a little bit different from last time out as the Saturday fixture compromises availability, but this is still a quality side, boosted by the return of Cath Sewell, Kate Birchall and Laura Mason to the side, and a first appearance in the matchday squad this season for Emily Elshaw.

Coaches thoughts (James Mackereth) :

Firstly, I'd like to say I'm as excited about this fixture as the girls are, the opportunity to play at home in front of a crowd is a great one, and I'm keen to see us put on a show. We're off the mark after a good performance down at Chester, which is something that I'm delighted with. After a bit of disruption with travelling down and a fractured warm up, the way the side reacted was very pleasing. That's the best start to a match from us I can remember for a long time, we came out firing, scored early on and kept our foot on the gas for an extended period that ultimately got us over the line fairly early on. To keep any team scoreless for an hour is a huge defensive shift, I can't give the team enough credit for their work rate pulling that off. For those who haven't seen much of this team the past couple of seasons, I'd very much suggest you come have a look tomorrow. They're very quickly picking up a style that is serving them well. Our first game against Crewe saw us impose perhaps 15 minutes of this style, which saw a period that dragged us back into the game, followed by perhaps twice that against Chester. People are willing to empty the tank to make this work, and the workrate last time out was exemplary.

The most pleasing thing for me last time out was the performance of some of the players who perhaps slip under the radar in terms of the work they do. Vicki Nelmes literally led from the front, her first run out in the front row was terrific. Susie Winter bagged a try on debut and was well involved in the game right to the end, Lauren Harkness kicked well throughout and put us in the right areas to enable us to play. I thought Lorne Mellonie had her best game in a wasps shirt yet, Tamar Benson showed yet more evidence of what a fine player she's becoming, and Fleur Stanton was outstanding at scrum half, a performance that made selection difficult for Saturday. The impact of the bench and the depth of ability to be able to cover from within the 15 is a real credit to this group. We've touched upon a few new ideas in the run up to Saturday, hopefully we'll press on again and turn some more heads when we do so. Best of luck this Saturday ladies, enjoy the day!!