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Unused England call-up Paolo Odogwu to start first match since January 8 as Wasps make three changes to face Clermont
By Sam Smith
Paolo Odogwu is finally set to start his first match of any kind for twelve weeks after spending the entire Guinness Six Nations championship kicking his heels as Eddie Jones did not involve him in any of the five England matchday squads. Odogwu had set the Gallagher Premiership alive over the winter with his try-scoring exploits for Wasps which culminated in his first-ever call-up by the English.
However, he wasn't capped during the campaign and with players unable to return to their clubs during the tournament in order to protect the integrity of the squad's safety bubble, it meant Odogwu was left idle for nearly three months after being in the form of his life.
He finally made a return to action off the bench for Wasps in last weekend's loss to Sale and now steps into his club's XV for their round of 16 Heineken Champions Cup game at home to Clermont on Saturday, a fixture that will be Wasps’ 100th competitive match at Ricoh Arena since they moved to Coventry from Adams Park in 2014.
Odogwu is one of three changes following the latest Premiership loss for Wasps as Jacob Umaga returns at fly-half to make his Champions Cup debut while the only alteration in the pack sees James Gaskell return to action at blindside flanker, with Brad Shields moving to No8 to take the place of Alfie Barbeary who is out with a calf injury.
There is also a return for Tom Willis, who is named among the replacements. He is joined on the bench by Sione Vailanu, Zach Kibirige and Jimmy Gopperth, who could make his 50th European appearance.
WASPS: 15. Matteo Minozzi; 14. Paolo Odogwu, 13. Malakai Fekitoa, 12. Michael Le Bourgeois, 11. Josh Bassett; 10. Jacob Umaga, 9. Dan Robson; 1. Ben Harris, 2. Tommy Taylor, 3. Kieran Brookes, 4. Joe Launchbury (capt), 5. Will Rowlands, 6. James Gaskell, 7. Thomas Young, 8. Brad Shields. Reps: 16. Gabriel Oghre, 17. Jack Owlett, 18. Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 19. Sione Vailanu, 20. Tom Willis, 21. Sam Wolstenholme, 22. Jimmy Gopperth, 23. Zach Kibirige.
CLERMONT: 15. Kotaro Matsushima; 14. Damian Penaud, 13. George Moala, 12. Wesley Fofana, 11. Alivereti Raka; 10. Camille Lopez (capt), 9. Sébastien Bezy, 1. Peni Ravai, 2. Adrien Pelissie, 3. Cristian Ojovan, 4. Paul Jedrasiak, 5. Sébastien Vahaamahina, 6. Judicael Cancoriet, 7. Alexandre Fischer, 8. Fritz Lee. Reps: 16. Etienne Fourcade, 17. Daniel Bibi Biziwu, 18. Rabah Slimani, 19. Thibaud Lanen, 20. Peceli Yato, 21. Morgan Parra, 22. Tim Nanai-Williams, 23. Peter Betham.
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Latest Comments
I was at this match. Jordie Barrett earned his money with a massive hit to slow a connaught attack to win the math when Leinster had 14 in the last few mins. Mack Hansen had a real go at the refereeing after citing a serious head hits on Iaone and Aki.
connaught were up for this. Snyman tried a trademark dirty after, and the onnaught 4 and the onnaught pack absolutely laid into him.
Leinster hose to kick to the corner when only winning by 5 with 10 left and qith only 2 tries scored. onnaught should have punisihed them for that utter stupidity after they broke out and Leinster yellowed to stop the attack.
13 changes from last week. It seems teams are scoring about 10 points less against Leinster this year. With Neinaber in his second year, the new attack coah established, surely they will be a bigger threat in champions up? Or will the attack recgress further.
They must adopt the SA philosophy of take your 3 pointers and the bonus points will come.
connaught back line inluding Iaone, Murphy, Aki, Forde, cordero is the seond best in Ireland surely. Leinster were lucky here
Go to commentsShould have played more for England but he jumped ship just as he was breaking through.
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