Exiles to face Saracens in Cup
Wasps’ rivalry with Gloucester will be renewed in the quarter finals of the Powergen Cup after the Zurich Premiership big guns were paired together in this morning’s draw.
The clubs have met on some big occasions in recent seasons and none more so than the 2003 Premiership final, a match which saw Wasps crowned English champions with a thumping 39-3 victory.
The outcome left a bitter tasted in the mouth of all associated with Gloucester – and many neutral observers too – as the west country club had finished the regular season 15 points clear at the top of the table.
Hostilities were renewed last April in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals, another match Wasps claimed in convincing fashion with a devastating 34-3 triumph on the way to winning the competition.
Gloucester, Powergen Cup winners in 2003, booked their place in the last eight with a 20-13 win at Leicester on Saturday while Wasps accounted for National One outfit Bristol 43-33 yesterday.
The quarter-finals are all-Premiership affairs with no National One side making it beyond the sixth-round stage.
Former cup kings Bath must travel to last year’s beaten finalists Sale, who were edged out 37-33 by Newcastle in a thrilling Twickenham showpiece, following their sixth-round destruction of Harlequins.
The Powergen Cup winners claim a coveted spot in the Heineken Cup so Northampton, who prop up the Premiership table, must overcome Leeds to have any chance of qualifying for Europe’s top competition.
Saracens and London Irish – 2002 winners after thrashing Northampton 38-7 - complete the draw with a "London" derby at Vicarage Road.
