Sweet smell of revenge

Rugby League

Wigan, the Grand Slam winners, will be without their captain, Shaun Edwards, and their top try scorer, Martin Offiah, for tomorrow's Charity Shield against Leeds in Dublin.

Edwards has a knee injury, while Offiah, who topped the League's try table last season with 53, has a back problem. The two Great Britain players also missed Wigan's Locker Cup victory against Warrington last Sunday.

But Jason Robinson, the wing, is fit again after a hand injury, and the forward Terry O'Connor, carried off with knee trouble in the Warrington match, is on the bench.

Wigan, who are extending their record number of Shield appearances to eight, having won it three times, will be fielding their regular front row of Kelvin Skerrett, Martin Hall and Neil Cowie.

Leeds must be hoping that the Royal Dublin Showground will be kinder than London and Manchester were to them last season. They were hammered by Wigan in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley and again in the Premiership final at Old Trafford.

They also finished runners-up in the championship to Graeme West's team, whose 69-12 Premiership final victory gave them the first modern-day Grand Slam. Alan Tait, the Leeds full-back, said: "The last game left a bitter taste which we've had all summer. This is a chance to remove it."

Leeds: Tait; Fallon, Iro, Cummins, Cook; Kemp, Vassilakopoulos; Harmon, Lowes, Faimalo, Mercer, Mann, Forshaw. Substitues: Golden, Gibbons, Morley, Fozzard.

Wigan: Paul; Robinson, Tuigamala, Connolly, Radlinski; Wright, Murdock; Skerrett, Hall, Cowie, Haughton, Cassidy, Farrell. Substitutes: Smythe, Johnson, O'Connor, M Knowles.

Referee: S Cummings (Widnes).