Wasps v Newcastle: Teams

Wasps wing Tom Voyce is set for 150th Premiership appearance when he lines up against Newcastle.

Although Voyce perhaps has not had the international recognition he perhaps deserves, he has enjoyed a fruitful domestic career - including holding the record for the quickest Premiership try.

And director of rugby Ian McGeechan was full of praise for the 26-year-old.

He told the club's website: "Our congratulations also go to Tom Voyce on his 150th Premiership appearance.

"He has been very consistent performer for the club and reflects the stability and continuity we like to maintain at Wasps.

"That sort of stability allows us to work at developing our players, particularly those who are English qualified, on a long term basis so that they can fulfil their potential as club players and ultimately on the international stage."

Voyce forms part of an unchanged backline from the stunning victory over Llanelli, however Wasps do make three changes to the pack.

Raphael Ibanez, Simon Shaw and Lawrence Dallaglio make way for Joe Ward, Richard Birkett and James Haskell.

Starts

McGeechan said: "This is one stand alone Guinness Premiership game sandwiched between other competitions, and we need to build on our good form in recent weeks to put in a good league performance on the weekend. We mustn't lose sight of the importance of that.

"The back line have been going well so we have stuck with the unchanged line up there. In the forwards, we were keen to give starts to Richard Birkett, Joe Ward, and James Haskell, who missed his start last weekend due to illness."

Newcastle may have welcomed All Black Carl Hayman to Kingston Park this week, however the Falcons line-up to face Wasps will have a distinctive English feel to it.

Director of rugby John Fletcher has named a staggering 14 English players in his starting XV to face the Heineken Cup champions - with 10 having come through the academy set-up.

Mark Sorenson is the odd man out, with the second row having been born in Wellington - and Fletcher believes clubs have a duty to believe in their homegrown talents.

He told the club's website: "We are a regional side representing the north-east and Cumbria, and we want to give opportunities to good regional players.

"I am a massive believer in the fact that domestic competitions have a responsibility to produce players for the national team.

"The England team is responsible for the whole game in this country in a sense, because they generate a huge amount of funding and enthusiasm at all levels. It's vitally important, and we as clubs have a duty to support that which we take very seriously.

World-class

"It's not easy. Players are taken away from us at crucial times during our own season, but we will stick with a policy that produces mainly players from this region with a sprinkling of world-class overseas stars like Matt Burke and Carl Hayman.

"The easiest thing to do would be to go and buy a team full of South Africans or Islanders who can play 22 Guinness Premiership games a season. That would be a decent team, but what benefit would there be to English rugby or north-east rugby by doing that?

"First and foremost I'm a Geordie, but secondly I'm English, and we all have a duty to support the English game. Don't underestimate how important the national team is to the club game, and vice-versa. We just have to play bat and ball with each other.

"While I am at this club, and while Dave Thompson is chairman of this club, we will continue to have a policy of producing top local players as well as bringing in a small number of quality overseas signings."

The Falcons are without Brent Wilson (hamstring) and Russell Winter (neck), meaning Phil Dowson and Ben Woods are recalled to the back row, while Jon Golding replaces Joe McDonnell at loosehead prop.

Toby Flood had been expected to play some part in the game after shaking off a groin injury, however he twisted an ankle in training.

Wasps: 15 Mark Van Gisbergen, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Fraser Waters, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Eoin Reddan (c), 1 Tim Payne, 2 Joe Ward, 3 Nick Adams, 4 Richard Birkett, 5 George Skivington, 6 James Haskell, 7 Tom Rees, 8 John Hart.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Michael Holford, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Lawrence Dallaglio, 20 Simon Amor, 21 Josh Lewsey, 22 Dan Leo.

Falcons: 15 Tom May, 14 Ollie Phillips, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Jamie Noon, 11 John Rudd, 10 Steve Jones, 9 James Grindal, 1 Jon Golding, 2 Matt Thompson, 3 David Wilson, 4 Andy Perry, 5 Mark Sorenson, 6 Geoff Parling, 7 Ben Woods, 8 Phil Dowson (c).
Replacements: 16Andy Long, 17 Joe McDonnell, 18 Sean Tomes, 19 Eni Gesinde, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Tim Visser, 22 Tom Dillon.