THOMAS YOUNG
This Welsh export is growing up at Wasps, writes RW’s Owain Jones
PPORTUNITY KNOCKS. It’s a well-worn phrase but seems apposite for Thomas Young, the next Welsh openside to roll off the overworked conveyor belt. The Wasps No 7 only turned 24 in May and with George Smith – who gave the youngster a ringing endorsement – taking the high road back to Queensland via Suntory Sungoliath, and England’s lionheart James Haskell laid up until Christmas with a foot injury, fate appears to have prised an opening for the Aberdare-born loosie.
Not that anything in rugby is straightforward. Young has spent much of the summer recovering from shoulder and hamstring injuries sustained at the back end of last season but is confident he’ll be “good to go” this month.
When we speak to him he is recovering from a speed session – it’s something Young has in abundance, and a facet for which father Dai, the feted Wales and Lions prop and his current head coach, was not renowned.
“I’d like to think I’ve got a bit of gas in me,” he smiles. “But that’s only a small part. I work on all of my game, the breakdown, tackling, handling, all the basic skills.”
While Young is quick to point out that he was not the only one to benefit from Smith’s vintage masterclass last term – Eddie Jones’s England squad were in thrall of his gifts as a breakdown operator – he did what any young openside bent on improvement would do; he watched and learnt. “I studied George’s game closely. I noticed how calm he was on the field but also the technical aspects. How he got around the pitch quicker, his positional play, his nous away from the ball, you know, when or when not to commit,” he says. “We are a similar height, so we can use the breakdown to our advantage with our body position. I work on it every day.”
With Nathan Hughes tipped to make the same impact at international level as he has at club level and Sam Jones equally ebullient around the park, Young isn’t short of quality alongside him and is sure that the grand old Wasp Haskell will be cheerleading from the sidelines in his own inimitable style. “We’ll miss Hask, he’s a huge character and has helped me loads. He was superb over the summer with England in Australia. What I like about him is he’s always willing to learn.”
That thirst for knowledge is a characteristic shared by Young. He left his boyhood club, Cardiff Blues, at 21,
Owith Sam Warburton the incumbent at No 7 and Ellis Jenkins snapping at his heels. He showed enough on loan at Gloucester to earn the call from Wasps in May 2014.
In that time he’s seen the club undergo a stratospheric rise. After nearly going out of business, they’ve cajoled superstars Kurtley Beale and Willie le Roux into joining a squad increasingly littered with stardust. “I came to Wasps two years ago and the change has been incredible. We’re very fortunate to have Derek (Richardson) and his wife putting resources into the club, but the coaching staff also deserve credit for attracting that quality of player to the squad.”
Young’s ability to thrive in such a star-laden squad has been noticed west of the Severn Bridge and there were calls for him to get a Wales call-up for the tour to New Zealand, with a game-changing cameo against Exeter in the Champions Cup doing him no harm.
Do you miss Wales? “Of course. I miss friends and family. My brother still lives there, but rugby-wise coming here is up there as one of the best things I’ve done. It took me out of my comfort zone, I live on my own and have to do stuff myself. I’ve grown up.”
Of his national aspirations, Young is coy, happier to deflect praise in the direction of rivals. “The standard of players at openside in Wales is right up there. You have Warburton, Justin Tipuric, Ellis Jenkins and James Davies, but I’m no different to anyone else. Everyone wants to play for their country. But at the moment international honours are not on my radar, my aim is to get in Wasps’ 23 week to week.”
Away from thunderclap collisions, deft handling and evasion skills are increasingly vaunted and Young accepts this evolution plays to his strengths. “I love to get my hands on the ball and attack. In the last few years attacking opensides have come back into fashion, which suits me down to the ground. I always admired Martyn Williams growing up.”
The prerequisite now is European qualification. “We were happy to finish top four last year, but our target is to cement our place in the top six. It’s too early to worry about the business end, just yet.” There’s no risk of illusions of grandeur with Young, a quest for self-improvement
will do him just fine.