41 / 48
www.
ULSTERRUGBY
.com
39
WASPS TO WATCH
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.
POSITION:
Wing
WEIGHT:
86kg / 13st 8lbs
HEIGHT:
172cm / 5ft 8in
DOB:
15/05/1991
NATIONALITY:
English
CHRISTIAN WADE
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:
Fly Half
WEIGHT:
92kg / 14st 7lbs
HEIGHT:
185cm / 6ft 1in
DOB:
02/11/1987
NATIONALITY:
English
DANNY CIPRIANI