Thomas Young: It was difficult when my dad left Wasps – but I have my own career to focus on
The flanker put family matters to one side when Dai Young was replaced in February and is now 80 minutes from leading the club to the Premiership final
Thomas Young has had to overcome more challenges than Anneka Rice during this longest of all seasons to stand where he is now, on the brink of an appearance with Wasps in the Gallagher Premiership final. Over the past 12 months, the 28-year-old has had to cope with the sacking of his father as the Wasps director of rugby and the end of his Wales career due to politics, not performance — not to mention surgery.
Yet here he is, the co-captain of a Wasps side that rediscovered their mojo after Dai Young’s departure in February, surging up the table from tenth to second with 11 wins from 12 matches. Tomorrow they welcome Bristol Bears to the Ricoh Arena for what promises to be a humdinger of a semi-final, given the attacking DNA that flows through both teams.
“I am determined to get there,” Young said. He would view an appearance in the Twickenham final as vindication of the physical and emotional pain that has been expended over the past 56 weeks. “You don’t need any better motivation than that.”
The toughest period for Young to handle was his father’s departure from the club. Dai Young had saved Wasps from relegation in 2011. He guided them to the 2017 Premiership final, losing in extra time to Exeter Chiefs, and back to the semi-finals the following year. He knew he was rebuilding a squad on a tighter budget that was capable of competing for the title once again, yet he just never got a chance to see it through.
Dai Young recognised that the Wasps coaching team needed to be revamped and he looked at bringing in Shaun Edwards or Steve Borthwick as head coach after the World Cup. In the end, the change instigated by the club was for Young to move on, with the reins handed to Lee Blackett.
When Mike Ford was sacked by Bath in 2016, his son George, the England fly half, was determined to follow him out of the door; the loyalty to his father absolute. When Dai Young left Wasps, he was gracious in public and in private counselled his son not to allow personal emotions to affect his professional ambitions.
“That was a very difficult time in how it affected my parents, all my family, really,” Thomas Young said. “My father was a big driver in making sure that I concentrated on what I needed to do to play and what the club needed. I can’t imagine it is easy but he is driving me to do what is best for Wasps. He was then and he still is now.
“As a professional rugby player I would like to think I have my own reputation and my own career. I knew I had to focus on what was best for myself and the club.
“My father and mother are still my biggest supporters. I still speak to them before and after games about what was good and what wasn’t. Instead of having his coach’s head on with me he has got his father’s head on and I think he is enjoying that a little bit more.
“He said he is still a Wasps fan. He is probably watching it through a different set of glasses now. I would imagine he is enjoying it.”
Young Jr used lockdown to fully recover from the ankle and knee surgery he had the previous summer, which hindered him through the first part of the season. In May, he signed a new Wasps contract, with Blackett describing him as “hugely influential . . . a real leader . . . and one of the best open-sides in the league”.
That stroke of the pen may have underlined his commitment to Wasps, but it ended Young’s international ambitions. The Welsh Rugby Union’s rules are that only uncapped players or those with more than 60 caps can be selected from outside of Wales. Young has three caps and he would have had to join a Welsh region at the end of his previous Wasps contract to remain eligible.
“I didn’t have an offer so I didn’t really have an option to go back home,” Young said. The WRU used to have a caveat that any player in that situation could be selected, but decided a hard-and-fast rule was better than a flexible one. For Young, it means he is caught in the middle.
“It is frustrating,” he said. “It doesn’t mean I change my mindset. I want to play for Wales but the rules are there. I knew when I re-signed at the club that that was gone for the time being. It is something I have to take on the chin and get on with.”
Blackett’s impact with Wasps was immediate when he took over as head coach in February. The week after Dai Young stood down, Wasps defeated Saracens 60-10 and never looked back, winning three times before lockdown and retaining that momentum once the season resumed.
The core of Wasps’ success is that their back row are capable of blowing teams away at the breakdown. Jack Willis has 43 turnovers this season, more than twice his nearest rival, and he is ably supported by Young, Tom Willis, Brad Shields and even Alfie Barbeary, 20, the rising star of the squad.
With Wasps averaging four breakdown turnovers per game, they work a lot in training on their transition into attack and they relish unstructured situations. The influence of Martin Gleeson, the former Great Britain rugby league international, has been key.
“We get turnovers and when it’s unstructured you play what is in front of you,” Young said. “Martin Gleeson has brought a lot of new ideas in. He works on how to grip and how to offload, he is big on the attacker staying square and on support lines, looking at things differently so we can isolate a defender.”
Bristol will test the courage of Wasps’ convictions tomorrow. They will look to attack from deep and have the ability to slice open even the best-drilled defence. Malakai Fekitoa versus Semi Radradra in midfield is just one of the box-office head-to-heads. Jack Willis v Ben Earl is another.
“They are one of the most exciting teams in the league and they have threats everywhere,” Young said. “If we want to get to the final it will be up to us to match and more what they have got. We haven’t been to a semi-final for two years. You don’t want to go into your shell in games like this. It is a massive challenge for us.”
As Young has demonstrated through this most turbulent of seasons, he is not one to shy away from a challenge.
Young on Jack Willis
“He had a horrendous injury in 2018 and has put a lot of effort into coming back better. Everything he gets this year [with England] he deserves. The stats prove to everyone how good he is, and he only wants to get better, which is a bit frightening really. There are not many players around who can get into the position he gets into and still be strong. He puts his head in places [others wouldn’t] and doesn’t mind taking a bashing.”
Young on Tom Willis
“He is a completely different character to his brother and a completely different player. He has played very well this year and taken his opportunity. Jack is the outspoken one and maybe the more confident one in that he is louder — but Tom is making a big impact on the pitch. He is playing well. He wants to get his hands on the ball and we give it to him to get us going forward.”
Young on Brad Shields
“He is massive leader in the squad, having been captain of Hurricanes in New Zealand. He has a different outlook on things and is a very positive person. He is one of the most berserk trainers I have ever seen in my life. His work ethic is top drawer. He sets an example in training in how hard you work and he wants the younger ones to follow.”
Young on Alfie Barbeary
“Some of the skills he has got are a bit freakish for a 19-year-old boy to have [he turned 20 this week]. If he can do that in the back row and develop what he needs as a hooker [his preferred position] he will be hard to stop. I remember he came from school for one of his first sessions, he got the ball in midfield and kicked it. No one could believe what they were looking at. Alfie has a bit of everything.”
. . . and Lee Blackett on Young
“Thomas is a hugely influential member of the squad on and off the field. He captained the side on several occasions last year and has developed into a real leader. Thomas is one of a number of players who’ve been here all the time I have, and it’s been great to see him develop to, in our opinion, being one of the best open-sides in the league.”
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Always a Wasp