WASPS BOSS IS HAPPY TO GO FOURTH
BLACKETT PUTS RECENT TURNAROUND DOWN TO NEW BELIEF AMONGST PLAYERS AS CONFIDENT TEAM GET READY TO TAKE ON WARRIORS
FOUR successive bonus point wins have moved Wasps from the bottom three to the top four – leading to many people asking, just how have they turned the corner so emphatically?
Understandably, those lines of inquiry are being directed towards head coach, Lee Blackett. The backs/ attack coach took over on an interim basis in the wake of director of rugby Dai Young’s shock departure in the build up to February’s round ten trip to Welford Road.
A turgid 18-9 defeat to Leicester Tigers presented little sign of what was to come. A 60-10 demolition of an under-strength Saracens side was no flash in the pan, as Wasps backed it up with wins at London Irish and at home against the then free-falling Gloucester. Only a global pandemic stifled their momentum.
Those performances were sufficient to see Blackett earn the job on a permanent basis. He rewarded that faith with another maximum points haul in the 34-21 victory over Northampton Saints as the league restarted after a five-month wait last weekend. It was like they’d never been away as they moved up to fourth spot.
A team with a tendency to let leads slip through their grasp and let momentum drain away has discovered a ruthless edge intertwined with attacking brilliance that runs through the club’s DNA.
“The turnaround has been positive but the signs were coming,” said the 37-year-old. “I knew there were some performances just around the corner. We just lacked a little bit of confidence, we probably have done for the last year, and you can see we weren’t a million miles away.
“At the weekend, we were six points up four minutes to go, they [Saints] made a break up the right, that’s the difference between winning and losing games.
“When a team is really confident you find a way of winning. When you’re not confident, you somehow find a way of losing.
“We lost to Northampton just after Christmas, right at the end, with Northampton down to 13 men. We just needed some confidence. We went out against Saracens and got that, since then we’ve never really looked back.” So there it is, the ‘c-word.’ Confidence. Blackett’s reference to ‘signs were coming’ are justified. Nizaam Carr’s last-minute heroics to defeat Bristol Bears and the dramatic
When a team is really confident you find a way of winning. When you’re not, you somehow find a way of losing.
Lee Blackett
30-26 victory over Worcester Warriors came under Dai Young’s tenure.
However, morale also took a battering in and around those fine wins.
First was the home loss to Harlequins, when Wasps built a 17-point lead but then collapsed, shipping four converted tries to lose at the Ricoh Arena. And as Blackett referenced, the 35-31 loss to Saints to kick off 2020 with a punishing one to digest.
Having had an extended period to stamp his mark on the squad, there is undoubtedly a spring in steps.
Something, of course, that is inextricably linked to results. Blackett is quick to deflect the plaudits that are coming his way and share them among the group.
But what has his influence been on the group in his promoted position?
“This is how I’d like to be perceived,” he said. “I like to give people the feeling of confidence. I want them to be able to go out there and express themselves. Be who they are, and try and create an environment that is positive and drives confidence within the group. Whether that’s staff, whether that’s players, it doesn’t matter. That’s what I’d like to think the perception is, but whether it is or not, we will see.”
He added: “I don’t want to make this about me, it’s not about me, it’s about everyone within the group creating, altogether trying to create, a culture that drives confidence and allows people to go and express themselves. One individual can’t do that.
“That’s a collective. That’s players, that’s staff, that’s all of us coming together.”