Wasps v Harlequins: Teams
Nick Evans will make his 100th appearance for Harlequins in the London Double Header against London Wasps.
Last Updated: 31/08/12 1:44pm
Former All Blacks international Nick Evans will make his 100th appearance for Harlequins in the London Double Header against London Wasps at Twickenham.
The fly-half has been the heart-beat of the Quins side since arriving in 2008, with Evans helping them to the Aviva Premiership title last season.
There is just one new name in the Quins squad following their title-winning campaign, with Ben Botica starting on the bench.
Mike Brown and Chris Robshaw, who were both injured on England's tour to South Africa, have been passed fit to start.
Wasps director of rugby Dai Young has handed debuts to Italians Andrea Masi and Fabio Staibano, while fellow new boys T Rhys Thomas, Ashley Johnson and Tommy Bell named on the bench.
Tough
James Haskell and Tom Palmer are also in the squad following their returns to Wasps after three years away. Haskell starts, while Palmer is included among the replacements.
Stephen Jones, Lee Thomas, Chris Bell and James Bailey miss out, though, through injury.
Young said: "There were some pretty tough decisions to be made in a number of spots, but that is a great position to be in.
"Harlequins present the toughest possible start for us and we will rightly go into the game as firm underdogs.
"It will take us some time to gel as a team but we're going into Saturday with a solid pre-season campaign under our belts and we're looking for a big performance."
London Wasps: 15 Hugo Southwell (c), 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Nick Robinson, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 James Haskell, 5 Joe Launchbury, 4 Marco Wentzel, 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 T Rhys Thomas, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Zak Taulafo, 19 Tom Palmer, 20 Ashley Johnson, 21 Nic Berry, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Chris Mayor.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 George Lowe, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 5 George Robson, 4 Olly Kohn, 3 James Johnston, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Ross Chisholm.