Winning return gives Dai food for thought
WASPS boss Dai Young is faced with a number of tricky selection choices ahead of Sunday’s home game with Northampton.
The black-and-golds returned to action after their Leinster disappointment with seven-try 45-0 win over Worcester Cavaliers in the A League on Monday night, and Young said a couple of players are in the frame to face Saints as a result.
“It was good for the squad,” he said, “and it put a smile back on everyone’s face.
“Tom Cruse played really well for 45 minutes, until we took him off to protect him a bit, and Guy Thompson was back to his best, so they’re both in contention for this week. Jack Willis had another really good game and looked very comfortable, Guy Armitage played very well, and Craig Hampson as always had a very consistent game.”
Wasps’ rugby director reported that the changes made against Leinster were tactical rather than injurybased. None of the players who were part of the European Cup exit in Dublin will therefore be unavailable to face Northampton.
Young emphasised that the strength of his bench last weekend encouraged him to make changes earlier than usual in an attempt to change the pattern of the game.
“We never have pre-conceived ideas about who we will change and when,” he said, “but with the quality we had on the bench it would have been silly not to use them.
“We made a conscious change to be more direct, as our skills let us down in the first half when we were trying to attack their edges. We are a team of tempo that plays off multi-phases to create space to attack, but we just weren’t accurate enough.
“Our passing accuracy and ball retention were the worst they’ve been all season. If we couldn’t go round them, we had to go through them, and that’s why we changed tack in the last 20 or 30 minutes to keep things simple and direct.”
Young also gave the latest news on some of his players suffering from injuries. Danny Cipriani still has “a bit of a groin issue”, which is not serious, the coach reports, while James Gaskell is back in light training after a torn calf but won’t be fit until the Bristol clash next Sunday. Rob Miller, meanwhile, is expected to be available for the trip to Harlequins on April 28, with the Wasps’ boss saying he is “progressing really well” following his foot operation. In the longer term, Sam Jones, who suffered a broken leg, may return to action in the latter part of the season.
“He’s giving it his best shot, and may make the Sarries game and the play-off,” Wasps’ boss said. “It was a significant injury, but it’s nothing to worry about in the long-term, and is just taking time to fully heal.”
England centre Kyle Eastmond will not play again this season, but Young reports the early stages of his rehab after a torn Achilles tendon to be going according to plan.