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Dai Young wants Wasps to go 10 in a row over Bristol Bears

(Photo by PA)

Wasps boss Dai Young said “every game is a big game for us” as his team look to recover from a poor start to their Gallagher Premiership campaign.

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Young’s side lie 10th in the league table following the weekend’s 28-22 defeat to Harlequins, with a victory over Bath on November 2 being their solitary Premiership success so far this season.

Wasps have also lost three out of four pool matches in the European Challenge Cup, and they now face a Bristol team needing victory to go top above current Premiership leaders Exeter.

“Every game is a big game for us,” Wasps rugby director Young said. “It’s all about getting as many points as possible.

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“Bristol have been going well and we know what quality they’ve got, but we went there last year and got the result, so we know we can do it.

“There is a lot of disappointment after the weekend.

“We need to take some real intent into this game, and if we play as well as we can, we will come away with the result.

“Every point is hugely important. You’ve got to try and come away with at least something from every away game, but we are going there to win.

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“We’ve got to iron out the things that didn’t go so well last weekend and just keep working at them.

“We’ve got to keep working hard to turn things around.”

Young makes a solitary change for the trip to Ashton Gate, with number eight Nizaam Carr handed a start alongside back-row colleagues Jack Willis and Thomas Young.

Lock Thibaud Flament, meanwhile, has recovered from concussion and is among Wasps’ replacements.

Former England lock Dave Attwood returns for Bristol as one of two changes from the side beaten by Saracens last weekend.

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Attwood partners Chris Vui in the second-row, while rugby director Pat Lam’s other switch is at centre, where Alapati Leiua gains a recall alongside Piers O’Conor in midfield.

Bristol are unbeaten at home in the Premiership this season, although Wasps have gone nine league games without defeat against Friday’s opponents.

A crowd of more than 20,000 is expected, with Bristol moving from third to first if they win.

“It’s a massive crowd on Friday and an occasion that we are really looking forward to,” Lam said.

“We know that there are Bristolians from all over the world coming home for the festive period, and we would love to gift them a performance to celebrate.

“Five points are on offer, and that has been the focus in what has been a short week.

“After last week’s disappointment, our best reaction will be what we do on the field.”

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AM 36 minutes ago
18 debutants but Australia's core looking ‘more settled than ever’

Not so many when you compare it to the squad of 50 plus players used by SA. Four main problems with the team and Schmidt shows he is a good technician but poor international coach by not selecting the best players and rotating and developing key positions.


First, the scrum is woeful if Bell and Thor don’t play. AAA and Nongoor in particular are poor. Talea may be good but is not good enough. Schmidt should select Sio, Ainsley and Latu as the bench front row. All playing well in Europe. He should also be doing better with Pone and perhaps getting him over to France to work on his scrummaging. Pone is our best running prop but poor coaching has killed him. Needs better coaching OS provided eg Skelton and Meafou. Secondly, 9 and 10 combo. McDermott is a confidence player and is terrible on a bad day. He takes several steps before passing which kills the speed of ball and results in turnovers. Better off with Kerr Barlow who is playing well with La Rochelle and making McDermott work on his skills. Edmed probably does need a run too. Thirdly, centre and fullback. Perese is our best defender at centre and should be in the squad. The outside back defence is poor without Joe and needs to be shored up. Wright is also a confidence player and has poor defence. When he is off like he was last week better to replace him with someone like Reece Hodge who has a great boot and good D. Fourthly, lack of ball runners who break tackles outside of Bobby V and Skelton. Wilson is not up to international standard and dosent break tackles nor does McReight. Replace him with Gleeson and Leota on the bench if fit. Would also be better playing Pone than Nongoor as Pone at least has a good running game. Latu also makes ground. Amatesero is also a better player than Williams. Frost has been the standout fine. Finally, player rotation. Schmidt is grinding key players like Bell and Bobby V into dust. He needs to give them breaks by utilising OS players more and developing youngsters. The loss of Meafou to France and the guy who captained Scotland exemplifies the poor coaching and development in Aus.

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