Newcastle vs Wasps: Kurtley Beale rested as Dai Young shuffles pack for Falcons trip

Thomas Young will make his 50th appearance for the club

Beale played at full-back in the Christmas Eve win over Bath (Getty)

Wasps director of rugby Dai Young has decided to rotate his side for the trip to Kingston Park to face Newcastle, with six changes being made from the side that beat Bath on Christmas Eve.

Young’s son, Thomas, will make his 50^th appearance in a Wasps shirt on Friday night as he moves across the back row to the blindside, with Guy Thompson taking the No 7 shirt instead in place of Ashley Johnson, who is named as replacement hooker.

Matt Symons returns at lock in the only other change to the pack as Australia international Kurtley Beale drops out of the squad completely.

He is replaced at full-back by Rob Miller, as Josh Bassett, Kyle Eastmond and Dan Robson take their places in the backline, with Young keen to keep his players fresh over the busy festive season.

"The Christmas period is always a busy one and we've had two tight turnarounds ahead of what will be a big challenge for us on Friday night," said Young.

"It's a massive game for us. If you want to be achieving you have to be winning these kinds of games. It's never easy to pick up away wins, especially somewhere like Newcastle, but you have to beat sides below you if you want to be in there at the end of the season."

Wasps have a good record at Kingston Park, having not lost there since a 14-10 defeat in May 2012 but Newcastle are on a good run of form at home and are seeking a third victory on the bounce.

Director of rugby Dean Richards has made three changes to side that lost to Premiership leaders Saracens last time out, with Will Witty and Opeti Fonua coming into the pack in place of injured pair Evan Olmstead and Callum Chick.

There is also an all-Argentine centre combination with outside centre Belisario Agulla partnering Juan Pablo Socino in place of Fred Burdon.

Richards is aware Wasps will come out to attack the Falcons but noted their leaky defence as a possible avenue to sneak points.

Jimmy Gopperth starred against his former club in the reverse fixture (Getty)

Wasps are no slouches and their try count is huge each game this season. They've got a lot of line-breakers and it does make a big difference, hence why they're in that top two or three.

"They score a lot of tries. Defensively they leak a lot of points, but at the same time their objective each game is to outscore the opposition, and score as many points as they possibly can. They're doing that at this moment in time.

"They're a good side packed with stars from all over the place. They'll be a difficult nut to crack but, having said that, we're pretty confident in the way we're playing at the moment.

"We're playing good rugby and enjoying ourselves as well. We're on the up, which is nice."