Brookes: I’m ready to take the next step

IT was a bout of kitchen-based scrummaging with Dai Young that convinced Kieran Brookes that Wasps were right for him.

Five months into his journey with the Black and Golds the 28-year-old is meeting the initial expectations of his boss, and fellow member of the tighthead prop brotherhood.

But the time has come for the 16-times capped international to ‘throw in the kitchen sink’ and take the next step for his fourth Premiership club and force himself back into the England reckoning.

“I think he’s really fitted in well personality wise and he’s working really hard,” said Young. “Everything I was hoping that he was going to bring, he’s brought.”

Brookes earned the last of his England caps in March 2016 as a replacement against Wales, the occasion of Manu Tuilagi’s last international appearance.

While the Leicester Tigers powerhouse centre is set to end that run at Twickenham on Saturday against Australia from the bench, Brookes is some way down the pecking order.

“I’ve always got ambitions to play for England,” said Brookes. “I’m proud to play for my country and it’s something that I want to do again. The cliche is club first and that’s how it is. Go play well for my club and then anything else is a bonus.”

Young brought Brookes to Coventry to strengthen Wasps resources on the right side of the scrum. With Jake CooperWoolley missing from Premiership action until his second-half showing at Northampton Saints last weekend, it is Academy graduate Will Stuart who has provided the main competition for Brookes. The healthy rivalry for the tighthead shirt has been a key contributor to a much-improved area of play for Dai Young’s side this season.

Wasps bid to end a sevengame winless run against Bristol Bears tomorrow with Brookes likely to feature from the start with Cooper-Woolley returning to near full fitness after a lengthy lay-off and Stuart battling to overcome a neck injury. It’s another chance for Brookes to impress and add to his record of appearing in all of the club’s league and European games so far this season.

Four winless Premiership and European games isn’t great, but given the context of what Dai Young has had to deal with during his time at Wasps, it doesn’t constitute a crisis.

The man was at the helm when he was buying tape when the well ran dry and funded a bus for a match out of his own pocket. He steered the ship north from London to Coventry and went within minutes of delivering a Premiership title in 2016/17. Broad shoulders and a calm head are needed to turn this corner and few are better qualified to do it than the Welshman.

For ten glorious minutes after halftime at the Ricoh Arena a month ago it all clicked for Wasps.

In their last home fixture in front of their own before the Premiership Cup block, the Black and Golds flew out of the traps with tries from Ashley Johnson, Joe Simpson and Zurabi Zhvania.

It was breathtaking. My highlight of the season so far. So the potential is there. When spirits are up and the Ricoh Arena is roaring, this Wasps team can still blow opponents away.

We’ve just not seen it all that often during the 2018/19 campaign. Wasps may not be firing on all cylinders as an attacking force but Josh Bassett has still managed to register seven tries this season.

It’s an incredible return given how few chances have come his way.

The former Bedford Blues flyer has played every minute of the club’s Premiership and European season and will be relishing a run in the side and his status as its best winger.

While Bassett is on the pitch, Wasps possess a player full of confidence in his own abilities to cross the line.

Something that’s desperately needed following Christian Wade’s retirement.

There’s no escaping it, Wasps are not performing anywhere near their best. Nathan Hughes

But a glance at the league table shows them sitting fourth in the Gallagher Premiership.

Fellow top-four finishers from last term, Newcastle Falcons, are rock bottom with just seven points to show from as many games this time around.

The gap between Dai Young’s side and the top two (15 points) is indeed greater than their buffer on the Falcons (12 points), but a win over Bristol coupled with a Gloucester defeat at Exeter would see them rise to third after more than a third of the season completed. It could be a lot worse. The usual ‘new-signing’ buzz has been tempered by Michele Campagnaro’s ongoing participation in Italy’s Autumn internationals. Having featured against Australia last weekend