Leek out to make mark with Wasps

Matt Leek spent the summer chasing targets with the England Under-21 squad. Now he could make a bigger mark with London Wasps after landing the crucial dropped goal in their opening match in the Zurich Premiership.

Leek's goal in the 69th minute at Loftus road put Wasps ahead 9-8 with 12 minutes to play against his old club Saracens and gave the 20-year-old fly-half the start he wanted to his second season.

Wasps eventually won 12-8 with an injury time penalty from Kenny Logan.

Leek, who comes from Croydon, said: "I had four or five starts when I was at Saracens the season before last, and then moved on to Wasps because I thought there was an opportunity to get some guaranteed rugby at the start of last season.

"I had eight starts with Wasps and had quite a few appearances off the bench and I now have a contract until the end of this season," he said. "It was important for me to get into the team early. As for the match getting three points from a dropped goal at that stage was very useful."

Leek will have to hold off a challenge for the No 10 shirt from Alex King, a full England cap, who is recovering from a shoulder injury.

But it probably did Leek no harm to play in front of Wasps' director of coaching Nigel Melville when he was in the England Under-21 squad in the international tournament in Australia during the summer where he had four outings when Melville managed the youngsters.