Michael Horak is unavailable to play after flying to South Africa for family reasons, so Ed Thrower comes in at fullback.
Meanwhile, centre Rob Hoadley wins a seat on the bench having recovered from a knee injury sustained during the final match of last season.
Looking forward to Sunday's game head coach, Gary Gold said: "Even without their World Cup players Wasps are a strong team. I am expecting another difficult game that will test our recent progress to the full."
London Irish: 15 Ed Thrower, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Geoff Appleford, 12 Nils Mordt, 11 Justin Bishop, 10, Mark Mapletoft, 9 Darren Edwards, 8 Chris Sheasby, 7 Kieron Dawson, 6 Phil Murphy, 5 Bob Casey, 4 Ryan Strudwick (captain), 3 Rob Hardwick, 2 Naka Drotské, 1 Neal Hatley.Replacements: 16 Pierre Durant, 17 Adrian Flavin, 18 Kieran Roche, 19 Declan Danaher, 20 Rob Hoadley, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Barry Everitt.
Kick-off: 15.00 BST (14.00 GMT)