It's well worth the read. Some interesting statements and comments. I think it puts to the lie those posters on the other place who are calling for Dai' head on a spike outside the Ricoh.
Wasps remain defiant in face of poor form and player exit rumours: 'One victory will make so much difference'
Wasps director of rugby Dai Young has never believed in sugar-coating reality, be it as a formidable front-row unit for Wales and the Lions or now as the four-square front man for a once high-achieving team that now finds itself in a slump that has seen only one victory in the last 13 matches.
There is no air of crisis just yet at Wasps’ belt-and-braces training base at Binley Woods on the outskirts of Coventry but nor is there any escaping the significance of Sunday’s Gallagher Premiership fixture against Northampton Saints at the Ricoh.
“A win will rocket us up the table,” said Young in that honest, deadpan way of his. “A loss will put us in the smelly stuff. We need to get a smile back into the place and one victory will make so much difference.”
Young was in charge when Wasps were an hour away from sliding into financial oblivion six years ago, with the director of rugby having to dip into his own pocket to provide medical bandages for the first-aid kit, so he is equipped with a sense of perspective on these matters, but he recognises that sport owes nothing to anybody, no matter that it is only a decade since Wasps bossed the domestic game and even in the last three years have been Premiership semi-finalists twice as well as extra-time losing finalists to Exeter Chiefs in 2017.
There have been rumours of player disquiet over training facilities, with reports that the likes of Elliot Daly, Nathan Hughes and Willie le Roux are leaving at the end of the season. It’s a reflection on modern mores that Wasps in their previous below-stairs residence at Twyford Avenue used to pride themselves on their spirit and achievements in defiance of such basic surroundings.
There is progress on training facilities, with The Daily Telegraph led to understand that the £5 million customised project at nearby Old Leamingtonians will be ready by early next year. The turnover of squad, however, is a more complex matter.
“While we want to keep our best players, the hard reality is that it may not always be in the best long-term interests of the club,” said Wasps' chief executive, Nick Eastwood. “The fact of the matter is that players will be leaving clubs because of salary-cap restrictions. If there are four or five players out of contract and they all come with six-figure increase demands, what can you do? There is the salary cap itself but there are also salary comparatives within the squad to consider, that knock-on effect on others.
“You have to give more and more thought to that. So, you may have to say goodbye to players. There will be a (greater) rotation of talent. I’m absolutely confident, though, that Wasps, because of its pedigree, its outstanding director of rugby, the Ricoh and our future vision, that we will continue to recruit who we want.”
Wasps’ current squad does not lack for quality, if only they could all get out on the field at the same time. Injury affects all clubs but Wasps have been particularly blighted. Factor in, too, that their top try-scorer of the last three seasons, wing Christian Wade, decided that, in the words of Young, ‘he didn’t like rugby anymore’, and headed off to American Football. The return of captain Joe Launchbury is timely, a ‘shot in the arm’ after only managing three games this season.
Scrum-half Dan Robson plays only his third match since recovering from ankle surgery in October, the sort of livewire presence that has attracted serious interest from Eddie Jones as he ponders his World Cup options and just the kind of dynamic presence that should enable the marquee import, former All Black fly-half Lima Sopoaga, to flourish. Given that veteran playmaker Jimmy Gopperth was crocked in a pre-season friendly, it is little surprise that Sopoaga, effectively the replacement for Danny Cipriani, has taken time to settle.
“When you are in a hole you can feel that everything is going against you but we’re tight as a group and go into Sunday ready to throw everything at it,” said Robson, who was the best-performing scrum-half in the Premiership when injury struck in early October and had a solid case for making his England debut in the November Tests. “It was the worst injury I’ve ever had, in itself and being a hurdle I had to get over. I felt I was in a good place, finally knocking down the England door. But all that will look after itself. It’s about performing for Wasps. It was the best decision I ever made coming here (in 2015) and it’s pretty much my whole life. We’re not a club happy with mediocrity.”
That much is true of many of those in the Premiership mix. It is as tight as it has ever been with only five points separating seven clubs prior to this round of matches. Everyone is desperate to get clear of the mid-table bunch but another of Wasps’ Kiwi imports, England back-row forward Brad Shields, warns against getting too wrapped up in the team’s predicament, even though the former Hurricanes captain has yet to win in a Wasps shirt after seven matches.
“Of course we have to treat every game at the minute as a cup final but, that said, if you get too bogged down about results then you can lose clarity in your thinking,” said Shields, whose club appearances have been affected by various injury ailments since arriving on a three-year deal in the late summer. “There is definitely more to come from me. I’ve only been scratching the surface so far. Any place I go to, I try to leave in a better place. That’s the aim here at Wasps.”
Young concedes that ‘the longer you go without a win the more confidence is hit and doubt sets in’. Sunday’s game has much riding on it. Even Young admits that ‘the result outweighs the performance’. Reckoning time at the Ricoh.
Topic: Mick Cleary Writes in the Telegraph (Long) (Read 4632 times)
Always a Wasp