I can hit heights for England and Eddie says Launchbury
WASPS captain Joe Launchbury will today attempt to deliver another towering performance against Toulouse in the European Champions Cup to convince Eddie Jones he is ready to start against South Africa in the opening Autumn International on November 12.
The likely move of Maro Itoje from lock to the injury-hit England back row creates another second row vacancy after the loss of George Kruis,
below, to minor surgery. The Wasps captain is desperate to fill one of those gaps and he believes his increased use at the lineout could be the deciding factor.
Due to his bulk – 6ft 6in and 18st – Launchbury has been used more as a lifter at Test level, but he showed in the 82-14 thrashing of Zebre last weekend, that he has become a reliable source of lineout ball.
Launchbury, who has won 35 caps, has worked hard to find the right balance between size and power following his successful recovery from neck surgery and while he is half a stone lighter, the opposition have discovered the 25-year-old is still a major force in the tight.
Launchbury, who had walk-on parts in the 3-0 Test summer Test series triumph over Australia as Itoje and Kruis were the starting locks, told The
Rugby Paper: “The emphasis Steve Borthwick brings to the England lineout is huge and it is only going to improve me as a player the more time I spend working with him.
“The attention to detail we do at Wasps has also been important and we have brought in coaches specifically to deal with this area of the game.
“It has increased our skill level and if I can take that across to England and prove I am a good option in the lineout, then that is what I intend to
do. “I believe my form has been strong for the last 18 months and it has been a case of waiting for opportunities. “I am loving the captaincy at Wasps and while
I am not the biggest talker – I like to lead by example – it has made me come out of my shell a bit and give opinions when I feel they are needed.”
Launchbury will have to take the fight to Toulouse today with the French desperate to recover from a 23-21 loss to Connacht in the opening round of European matches.
He added: “You go to France and try to get what you can. We will look to defend well and have a strong set-piece and try to get as much ball as we can. Much like the first six games of the Premiership, you look at things in blocks and this two-game block is huge for us.
“We knew what we had to do against Zebre and we have done that and got the five points and we know what a strong position we can put ourselves in if we get a good result.
“We understand that the pool is going to be tough and this game with Toulouse is a much bigger challenge.
“We are really happy with our try-scoring and have X-factor players who love the ball in their hands and it is our defence that needs to be improved. We need to sharpen it up this week because we have a lot of improvement still to make as a team.
“We know that if we can get a result against Toulouse it will put us in a strong position.”