By Chris Chaplin
October 31 2002

Surrounded by a cloud of embrocation and Dubbin your venerable Previewer has once more been pressed into action. This time to consider whether this Saturday at Welford Road it'll be a buzz for the Wasps or a roar from the Tigers. This is a crunch weekend as with Glaws likely to beat the Piglets at Kingsholm and Sorries unlikely to prevail over Tykes at Headingly a win for Tigers could see them third at the end of this weekend, albeit perhaps six or seven points adrift of Glaws and four or five of Tykes it would put us within range ahead of the Autumn Internationals. Whereas a loss could, assuming the likely victory by Falcons over Irish, see us drop back to seventh, or if Sharks also prevail over Brizzle, eighth.

I watched the Wasps play high flying Glaws last weekend and was once again vastly impressed by the Kingsholm crew who came close to overcoming the self imposed handicap imposed upon them by Master Eustace and it was interesting that they chose to prejudice their numbers behind the scrum rather than sacrifice power in the pack and lost, whereas on that ill fated day at the Memorial Ground when we had the same advantage as did Wasps I seem to recall that Brizzle opted to maintain their wide cover. I think that this decision by Nigel Melville was the West Country sides' undoing.

Having said all that Wasps deserved their win and exploited the reduced numbers as the game wore on and the inevitable gaps started to appear.

Wasps were forced to reorganise their back row when Worsley tweaked a hamstring in pursuit of Simpson-Daniel, but with the arrival of Scrivener it still worked well as a unit and is unsurprisingly retained. Larry had a superb game and looked to be pretty much back to his best - although he was found out doing evil Tiger like deeds which saw him have a 10 minute breather in the second half.

The Wasps lineout worked well aided by the absence of Eustace in favour of the less experienced Mark Cornwell and with Shaw having a purple afternoon Wasps were largely untroubled in this department. I have to say I was less convinced by their front row with Greening, while showing fleetness of foot, making try saving tackles and generally playing like a centre still, for me anyway, not fulfilling his basic scrummaging duties and it was interesting to note that when Leota made his appearance the pick and drive was used against Glaws with devastating effect, where prior to his arrival it had been a little used ploy.

Dowd continued to attract the referee's attention (who I thought had a fine afternoon) and with Big Trev., Dowd and Molloy given the nod to start at Welford Road this looks a much tighter unit and tells us pretty much the kind of game Wasps will be playing.

Howley was as much a pest as ever, rarely can a player have been more suited to the title of Wasp. I am surprised to see Wood selected ahead of him, although I understand he is carrying a slight injury, for the upcoming encounter and believe that Howley's distribution skills and devastating box-kick will be missed by them. If Howley does make an appearance, as he surely will, he will be a major threat to Tierney and will need careful attention from him and his backrow colleagues.

Sadly King was laid low by one of the many cheap shots fired during the encounter and will not take part in Saturday's contest. To be honest I am not sure who is the front line kicker for Wasps with Logan also languishing on the bench.

King's replacement, new Kiwi signing van Gisbergen, looked a useful player and retains his place outside Wood and here we have the danger of the unknown.

I thought Abbott had a good game, rather like Gelderbloom his brain power matches his physical attributes, but again he's sidelined on Saturday with Mark Denney and Fraser Waters being given the centre partnership. I have seen both play some good rugby with Fraser Waters able to pick a good line and they'll need close watching, hopefully Dave is fit and Ollie or Gelders are selected ahead of Lloyd to marshal them.When Abbott makes his presence felt the grey matter will have to be in gear.

Of the rest Lewsey was nippy and generally safe but I still think can be pressurised in defence and his move to the wing could provide an opportunity, but our selection must be appropriate to his potential speedy seizing of opportunity.

The final surprise from Gatland is Sampson at full-back and I must confess that I don't recall seeing him play in that position, but if Steve Hansen's view that the back three are all fullbacks holds water Sampson's draft should not be crucial - we'll see.

Tigers should be buoyed by their excellent win at Sorries last Sunday and assuming a full strength (I shall avoid analogies with tobacco) side is both available and selected it should be a thrilling contest.

The game will, looking at Gatland's selection, initially be forward orientated with the pick and drive much in evidence and Rowntree, West and Tournaire will probably be best suited to combat this and respond with their own well worked technique, although they will have to be on their mettle against the wily Dowd and vertically challenged powerhouse that is Trevor Leota if they are not to give away penalties for being wrongly adjudged to be collapsing mauls. Clearly Johnno and BK will be well aware of the threat from Shaw, should he retain his form from the Glaws game, but I expect they'll be more than a match for him and Beardshaw.

The backrow battle will be fascinating and incumbent Lion Cozza will feel he has a point to prove, hopefully without seeing either Yellow or Red and I feel that Backy will be too much for Volley. An area of weakness against Glaws was Wasps' ball retention from kick-offs and here both Cozza and Mad-eye will have pivotal roles which could turn the game.

The half-backs whether TT/Vesty or Oz should be able to prevail over Wood and van Gisbergen as should our centres, although if Lloyd is selected he will without doubt be targeted as a weak defensive link.

The pace of Lewsey and Sampson are well known and if they secure ball Geordan and Booth/Fred will have to be at their defensive and speediest best.

So....... will Wasps be the first club to win a league fixture at Welford Road since Tony Blair celebrated his first Christmas at #10 - it's really that long ago - I don't think so.

The Wasps pack never looked in full control against the Glaws outfit and in reality I believe that, if at their best, only our front row is a match for the Vickery/Azam/Woodman triumvirate. I just think that Johnno and his merry band will be too much for Wasps and that the absence of a recognised golden boot kicker to take advantage of any indiscipline by Tigers will be the insecticide that takes the sting out of the little critters from High Wycombe.