Ulster Rugby v London Wasps

DANNY CIPRIANI

POSITION: Fly Half WEIGHT: 92kg / 14st 7lbs HEIGHT: 185cm / 6ft 1in DOB: 02/11/1987 NATIONALITY: English

WASPS TO WATCH

Fly half Danny Cipriani is back in black and gold. Cipriani returned to Wasps ahead of last season, the club he started his career with as a school boy. Cipriani is recognised as one of the country’s most gifted play-makers. After impressing for Wasps’ Academy while still at Whitgift School, Cipriani swiftly graduated to the senior squad and made his debut as a 17-year-old against Bristol in the 2004 Powergen Cup. He soon became an integral part of Wasps’ squad, using his blistering pace and attacking instinct to open up defences across the Premiership. Cipriani also played a key role in Wasps’ 2007 Heineken Cup campaign, starting the Final at full back.

Capitalising on his club form with Wasps, Cipriani burst onto the international scene aged 20. Cipriani went on to make 95 appearances for Wasps, before moving to Australia to spend two seasons with the Melbourne Rebels (2011/12), returning to England in 2012 to join Sale Sharks, where his performances again earned international recognition. He has won 14 caps and scored 64 points for his country, including a man of the match performance against the Barbarians in June 2015. The experienced 10 has passed 1,000 Premiership points and made his 100th appearance for Wasps against Northampton Saints in 2016.

POSITION: Wing WEIGHT: 86kg / 13st 8lbs HEIGHT: 172cm / 5ft 8in DOB: 15/05/1991 NATIONALITY: English CHRISTIAN WADE

Born in Slough, Wade started playing rugby at RGS High Wycombe before joining the Wasps youth set up as a teenager. Since then he has made a huge try-scoring impact, despite suffering some long term injuries in 2013 and 2015. Wade had a fantastic 2014/15 season, being named in the BT Sport Team of the Year, after he beat 62 defenders and scored 14 tries. Injury then struck but he made a fine return in the second half of the 2015/16 season with tries against Harlequins, Gloucester and Leicester and Sale. His six tries against Worcester at Sixways in April will certainly go down in history. Wade's rich vein of try-scoring continued in 2016/17 when he managed to notch up 19 tries in 29 appearances and equalled Dominic Chapman's

record for the most tries scored by an individual in a Premiership season with 17. Wade's tries also took him past Kenny Logan (79) as Wasps' all-time leading try scorer at the age of just 25. His reward was a place in the Aviva Premiership Dream Team for 2016/17, alongside fellow Wasps Elliot Daly, Joe Launchbury and Jimmy Gopperth and being named Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Month for March. Christian's additional representative honours include England Sevens, England U16, U18 and he was a key part of the England U20 side which won a Grand Slam Six Nations title and reached the final of the Junior World Cup, at which he finished joint top try scorer, alongside Ulster’s Charles Piutau.

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