Ulster trip first up for title-chasers
WASPS and Exeter have crossed paths no fewer than seven times in the last 18 months, so it’s fair to say they know each other pretty well.
Indeed, so closely packed were three of those meetings, in April and May last year, that the players shared a post-match beer in the changing room at Sandy Park following Wasps’ semi-final defeat.
Not quite a band of brothers perhaps, but throw in the healthy respect which clearly exists between black- and- gold boss Dai Young and his opposite number Rob Baxter, and you are left with the impression firstly that the clubs share a lot of the same philosophy, and secondly that there will be few tactical surprises for either camp during tomorrow’s Twickenham final.
Wasps’ boss and his analysts - who when you next see a TV close-up of matchday Dai are the blokes next to him with the big beards - always have a detailed picture of forthcoming opponents in their minds. However, rarely is Wasps’ boss able to reel it off as readily as he did this week to the assembled press. “Exeter play a lot of rugby around the halfway line looking for a penalty they can kick to the corner and get the driving lineout going, which means discipline is massive for us,” he said. “They have a big pack, which makes the scrum a challenge for us. If you watched them last week, even though Sarries had five British Lions in their pack, they still caused them problems. “Their driving lineout is also the best in the league. “When we’ve done well against them, we’ve won that field position battle, and the challenge then is for them to score from their own half. With their driving lineouts and pick-and-go game they are the best team in their opponents’ 22 bar none, which means we have to defend our 22 like it’s our try-line. “They have a plan A and a plan B so if it becomes slow, with Gareth Steenson at No.10 they can play a kicking game if it’s required although they don’t choose to do that too often. “So they can play a set-piece ori- ented territory game if they want to, but their first choice is always to keep the ball.
“Our defence is going to be tested as they’ll try and keep the ball, shorten us up and get outside us.”
After briefly pausing for breath, and turning a mental page, Wasps’ rugby director proceeded to offer an equally coherent summary of what his team must deliver if they are to claim a first Premiership title in nine years.
“If we kick poorly, we’ll go long periods without the ball, so the plan is not to kick unless it’s necessary,” he said. “That’s in our DNA anyway, since our first option is always to look to run.
“Leicester did a good job at putting us in a corner and leaving no option but kicking it back to them.
“Exeter may do that too, but that would go against what they’ve done in the past, so I’m expecting two teams who want to play rugby and take the game to each other.
“It’s an old cliche, but whoever makes the fewest mistakes has got a chance. Keeping the ball is one thing, but you then have to be careful of turnovers and how people react to them.
“We need to go out and play, get some phases going, get parity up front and a contact area where we get quick ball and then we’ve got attacking weapons.
“We’ve scored more tries than anyone else in the league, so there’s no reason we can’t keep scoring them against Exeter. It’s a wide pitch which will suit us and how we play the game, and it’s going to be 27 degrees, which is all made for running rugby.” FOR Wasps and Exeter, plus Pro 12 clubs Scarlets and Munster, the current season has a few days remaining.
But for the remaining 20 UK top flight clubs thoughts have already turned to the beach then preparations for next season.
On this basis, Ulster, who finished fifth in the Pro 12, have announced that Wasps will visit their 18,000 capacity Kingspan Stadium (formerly known as Ravenhill) for a pre-season friendly on Thursday, August 17.
The match, which kicks off at 7.30pm, pitches Wasps’ recently-departed Kiwi ace Charles Piutau against his former club.
The clubs’ paths crossed in the 2001/2 Heineken Cup, when they were drawn together in pool two. On that occasion the Belfast-based club claimed an emphatic 42-19 win in round two before Wasps evened things up with a 36-32 success in their pre-Adams Park days at QPR’s Loftus Road in round five.
Three Ulstermen - Rory Best, Jared Payne and Iain Henderson - will tour alongside James Haskell and Elliot Daly with the British & Irish Lions this summer. These five are therefore unlikely to feature, while the presence of Ulster’s four representatives on Ireland’s Japan tour plus Matt Mullan, Joe Launchbury, Nathan Hughes and any other Wasp added to England’s Argentina trip as injury cover, must also be in the balance given their need to enjoy a fiveweek post-tour break.
However, the fixture will potentially offer the first sighting in a Wasps shirt of Marcus Watson, TJ Harris and Gaby Lovobalavu plus any other additions Dai Young is yet to reveal. Similarly, recent signings John Cooney and Schalk van der Merwe could make their Ulster debuts.
Last season Wasps faced Championship outfit Yorkshire Carnegie and Bristol during the course of pre-season.
The Ricoh Arena visit of the club formerly known as Leeds, who will soon face London Irish for a Premiership spot, achieved very little other than emphasise the gap which exists between England’s two top divisions. This Ulster trip therefore offers a much more competitive work out for the black-and-golds, who will doubtless shortly announce a second pre-season opponent.
It’s a wide pitch which will suit us and how we play the game, and it’s going to be 27 degrees, which is all made for running rugby