British Lions omission will ‘eat away’ at Haskell
LONDON: England and Wasps flank James Haskell’s omission from the British and Irish Lions squad for their upcoming tour of New Zealand will “eat away at him”, Wasps director Dai Young has said.
The 32-year-old Haskell pictured, who has 75 caps for England, returned to action in January after being sidelined for nearly seven months due to toe surgery. His comeback was then interrupted after he suffered a concussion playing for Wasps in the European Champions Cup.
Wasps teammate Joe Launchbury was also left out of the Lions squad but Young said that while the 26-yearold second rower might get another opportunity, Haskell’s chance had probably gone.
“It’s a hard pill to swallow, if you’ve got 70-odd caps for his country and not made a Lions tour,” Young told British media.
“Joe, if he doesn’t get on the place, has potentially got another crack, he’s young enough. Hask probably hasn’t.
“That will eat away at him deep down.”
Wasps are five points clear at the top of the English Premiership, but centre Elliot Daly was the only player from the side to make it into Warren Gatland’s 41-man squad for the New Zealand tour that starts on 3 June.
“For a team sitting at the top, I’m surprised how few representative players we’ve got,” Dai added.
“If you look at some of the Premiership teams below us, most of them have got more players on the Lions and England tours.” – Reuters