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Wasps fans aren't short on optimism despite close contact protocols robbing them of two props and Brad Shields

By Josh Raisey
(Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)

For players, staff and fans of Wasps, the fortnight leading up to Saturday's Gallagher Premiership final has been as tumultuous as they come. The very fact that they will be able to take the field with Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham may seem like a minor miracle after positive Covid-19 tests over the past week. 

When further cases were reported last Monday, Bristol Bears looked set to replace them in the final. So after Lee Blackett revealed his team on Friday lunchtime to take on the newly crowned Heineken Champions Cup winners, the response has been rather positive considering the situation many may have envisaged. 

There are casualties, however, with four starters from the team that beat Bristol in the semi-final absent. The front row has taken the biggest hit with both props, Simon McIntyre at loosehead and Kieran Brookes at tighthead, both unavailable, as is No8 Brad Shields. 

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Outside centre Malakai Fekitoa also misses out due to the injury he sustained in the opening minutes of the semi-final. The team will also have to make do without the services of the versatile Alfie Barbeary from the bench. 

When Blackett said that he would be without eleven members of the squad on Saturday, there would have been those that feared the worst, particularly against a juggernaut in the form of the Chiefs. That is perhaps why the reaction is so upbeat. 

With Exeter so powerful and efficient up front, losing two starting props is not ideal, but in the context of the past two weeks, many Wasps fans would have accepted these losses on Monday when their prospects of playing looked bleak. 

Whether they were fielding a full-strength side or not, Wasps were always entering this match as underdogs. But that is a title they are perfectly comfortable with and have indeed thrived under. 

The team were struggling at the foot of the table when Blackett took charge after Dai Young’s departure in February, so the turmoil of this past week will be nothing out of the ordinary considering the season they have had.