Capt Gemma Rowland (RA) has her first action of the season this coming weekend after being named in the Wasps starting 15 for their Allianz Cup trip to Bristol.
Capt Rowland – who spent the second half of the 2020/21 season as a Bear – has been named at fly half for her club’s first outing in this new competition.
Although the Allianz Cup has seen fixtures for other clubs, Wasps have been on hiatus since their Premier 15s win over Gloucester-Hartpury on October 9th. Bristol, on the other hand, lost their first game of the season in the cup last weekend, although their 100 percent record – five wins, five bonus points – has them top of the Premier 15s table from Saracens on points difference.
Wasps head to the West Country having had a promising start to their league season and sit third in the table.
However the Londoners have eight players on international duty, so have named a much-changed team for the Cup clash. Capt Rowland, who won Wales caps earlier in the year, is an experienced player to have at fly half, and she will have Army team mate Cpl Louise Dodd (QARANC) to have alongside her, should the centre come off the bench.
Kick off at Shaftesbury Park on Saturday is at 14:00.
In the Premiership, LCpl Semesa Rokoduguni (Scots DG) will be hoping to add to his tally of tries and that Bath can snap their losing streak when they head to table-topping Leicester this evening (Friday, November 5th).
LCpl Rokoduguni scored his second try of the season in last Saturday’s home loss to Wasps, but it was too late to turn the tide against the Midlanders and did not even have a consolation of earning a losing bonus point, just some respectability to the scoreline.
Bath’s form on the scoreboard belies some of their attacking intent, with the team the second-highest in the league in terms of offloads and third-highest in terms of line breaks. But the west country side has not been able to turn those into all-important points.
Having faced the reigning champions, Harlequins, and form team, Saracens, in two of their last three matches, things do not get any easier for Bath, who head to Welford Road to take on a Tigers outfit which is on the verge of setting a club record for the most number of wins to start a Premiership season.
Tonight’s match kicks off at 19:45 with live coverage on BT Sport.
Words © New Dogs, Old Tricks, Header and Featured Image © Neil Kennedy
