Wasps v Bristol Bears - Looking at Premiership Semi Final 1

The end of a chaotic 2019-20 Premiership season is finally in sight as the tournament progresses to the semi-final stages. The first match-up will see Wasps pitted against the hopeful Bristol Bears at the Ricoh Arena.

Wasps managed to finish in second place on the table, on 71 points, three points behind Exeter Chiefs, winning 14 of their 22 outings. After a shaky start, with just one victory from the first six rounds, Wasps’ efforts came to fruition in the latter stages of the tournament.  Their biggest win came in Round 11, against Saracens (60-10) while potential finalists Exeter handed Wasps their biggest loss of the season; 38-3 at Sandy Park.

Bristol finished in third spot, two points behind Wasps and just two ahead of rivals Bath who will take on Exeter in the second semi. Bristol, like Wasps, have enjoyed victory 14 times this season. The middle chunk of the round stages saw Bears rise to prominence with a run of seven consecutive victories from week 9 to 15.

This will be the third occasion that the teams come to blows and, while Wasps will be quietly confident based on the past two results, Bristol will be itching to prove a point.

Towards the end of a hotly contested game at Ashton Gate in Round 7, when it looked like Bristol may just have done enough with the score at 21-19, the figure of Nizaam Carr galloped down the touchline and dived over in the corner to envelop them in shock and disappointment.

In the return fixture at the Ricoh arena in Round 20, Wasps took no chances, scoring four tries in the first twenty minutes and going on to score four more throughout the rest of the game. While Bristol looked good at various stages, they never looked like potential winners in the face of a rampant Wasps outfit.

Team News:

Wasps have two changes to the starting line-up that beat Exeter Chiefs. Joe Launchbury returns from injury to captain the side at lock and Jack Willis returns to the Wasps back-row.

For Bristol, Skipper Steven Luatua returns to lead the side, while Nathan Hughes is also named in the back row. Andy Uren is selected at scrum half while Callum Sheedy, fresh from an international call-up with Wales, also comes back into the side.