Champions Cup Preview: Leinster v Wasps

Leinster v Wasps

KO: Saturday 1st April, 3:15pm

Venue: Aviva Stadium

Channel: BT Sport 2

Referee: Nigel Owens

Betting: Leinster 4/9 v 15/8 Wasps Spread: (-5)

Wasps, the Aviva Premiership leaders take on the Pro 12 table toppers Leinster on Saturday, in the first Champions Cup Quarter-Final clash in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin.

Leinster clinched a home Quarter-Final thanks to some scintillating performances in the group stages. Four try bonus points, a losing bonus point and a draw secured their passage into the knock-out stages of the Champions Cup.

Leinster opened up their European campaign with a 33-15 victory over Castres, before being edged out by a physical Montpellier side at the Altrad Stadium but securing a valuable losing bonus-point for their troubles. Back-to-back five pointers over Northampton Saints helped Leinster gain momentum for the tough French run-in that awaited them.

A home encounter against Montpellier further highlighted their attacking prowess, scoring 8 tries in a comfortable victory. Leinster travelled away to Castres in Round 6, the French outfit renowned for churning out results on their home turf pushed them all the way in a nail biting fixture. Leinster’s resilience paid off as they salvaged a vital draw in the closing stages.

Wasps were placed in Pool 2 alongside Italian outfit Zebre, fellow quarter-finalists Toulouse and reigning Pro 12 victors Connacht. They opened their campaign with a masterclass in attack as they tore apart Zebre at home notching 82 points in the process.

A challenging trip to Toulouse was next up, a converted try at the death, scored by Nathan Hughes ensured the game ended in a tie. A home clash against Connacht yielded 5 points for Wasps, before they travelled to the Sportsground in Round 4, Connacht gained a late victory with a highly contentious try awarded to the Irish province.

A late score at home to Toulouse snatched victory to send Wasps level with Connacht at the top of Pool 2 going into the final round of fixtures. Wasps at this stage had one foot in the door of the quarters, but had to travel to Parma to face Zebre in the deciding round. A dominant performance in Italy sent Wasps into the knockout phases.

Team News

Rory O'Loughlin, Josh van der Flier and Isa Nacewa all came through the PRO12 game against Cardiff with no issues. Sean Cronin (hamstring), Jack Conan (calf) and Zane Kirchner (hamstring) are back in contention as is Dave Kearney, who returned to training after a toe injury. Rob Kearney (knee), Jamie Heaslip (back), Dominic Ryan (knee) and Jordi Murphy (ACL) are all unavailable.

Wasps will hope flanker James Haskell recovers from a dead leg to face Leinster in Dublin. Willie Le Roux and Alapati Leuia are going through the return to play protocols following head knocks at the weekend and a call will be made on Friday.

OPTA Stats

Leinster top the Champions Cup try-scoring charts with 31, while Wasps have scored three fewer (28) after 6 rounds of action. Isa Nacewa has scored the most tries (6) in this season's competition. Leinster hold the edge at scrum time, with a 100% success rate to date while Wasps have won 81%. Leinster are averaging 38 points a game, compared to Wasps 35.

Form

The two teams enter the quarter-final stages top of their respective leagues. Despite losing key players to international duty, Leinster secured 5 wins during this passage, with 4 bonus points along the way helping their charge to the summit of the Pro12 table.

Wasps hold a 5 point lead at the top of the Aviva Premiership and have won their past 3 league fixtures. Both sides have scored over 70 tries this season. Saturday's game should see two of the most exciting sides in Europe go head-to-head to fight it out for a place in the semi-finals of Europe's premier competition.

Key Battle

Wasps’ livewire fly-half Danny Cipriani faces off against Leinster’s influential playmaker Johnny Sexton in a mouth-watering European fixture. The two men will hope to unlock the unlimited potential that the backs outside of them possess in attack. This match up can also be billed as a potential Lions' audition as Cipriani is playing some of his best rugby of his career. 

Prediction

Home advantage is crucial in the knock-outs stages of this competition. A 76% success rate for the home side in the quarter-finals edges the tie in Leinster's favour. Stuart Lancaster has brought some fresh ideas into the Leinster set-up following last year's early exit in the group stages.

The strength in depth Leinster possess should be too much for the Premiership flyers, the loss of Jamie Heaslip & Rob Kearney will without doubt weaken Leinster's on-field experience. However, the fresh faces of No.8 Jack Conan & full-back Joey Carbery are more than capable of filling their places. With Sexton, Henshaw & Ringrose gaining some more valuable game time together in the green of Ireland, Leinster should have enough artillery to weather the wrath of the Wasps.

Previous Results: 

Leinster 25 - 20 Wasps - 19th October 2014

Wasps 20 - 20 Leinster - 24th January 2015

Leinster 6 - 33 Wasps - 15th November 2015

Wasps 51 - 10 Leinster - 23rd January 2016