Wasps tighthead aiming to put the heat on Kyle Sinckler
WASPS tight-head Jake Cooper-Woolley is ready to turn up the heat on Kyle Sinckler as he looks to rocket up England’s pecking order ahead of June’s tour to Argentina.
Cooper-Woolley, 27, toured South Africa with the Saxons last summer but endured a frustrating pre-season after suffering a haematoma and bruising on one of his kidneys.
That put paid to any hopes of a November Test call-up but, with Dan Cole looking a Lions certainty this summer, the Reigate-born prop is keen to press his claims for a trip to South America as Wasps target Premiership and Champions Cup glory.
Cooper-Woolley said: “I don’t think there’s anyone who’s really established themselves behind Dan Cole. Kyle’s gone well and Eddie Jones really likes him, but there might be opportunities and I need to keep pushing my case.
“This season’s been disappointing. I had high hopes but after the Saxons tour I found myself feeling ill. It turned out to be a haematoma on my kidney and there was nasty bruising, so it took a few weeks before I could fully exercise.
“I’ve had to play catchup, but, hopefully, I can stay injury-free and play good rugby towards the end of the season.”
Cooper-Woolley added: “I’m trying not to think about Argentina too much. If you get your hopes up and it doesn’t happen you can get a bit disillusioned, but going away with the Saxons was good and you aspire to higher honours.
“First you’ve got to enjoy playing rugby for your club and my mind is on the short-term and putting in performances for Wasps. That’s tough enough but if we win some stuff it won’t do me any harm.”
A maximum of 13 matches separate highflying Wasps from a potential Premiership and European Cup ‘double’, but to achieve that aim Cooper-Woolley knows they must tackle defensive deficiencies that have seen them ship nearly three tries-a-game.
He said: “Everyone’s disappointed with the way we’ve been defending. You can’t just go out thinking you’ll score more tries than the opposition and win by five points because at the end of the season, in those big games, defences will tighten up.
“Some weeks your attack might not fire quite as well and we’re not going to be able to concede three, four or five tries and still win. We could end up struggling a bit, so hopefully we can shore things up as we go into the vital run-in.
Wasps have been boosted by the arrival of versatile Springbok back Willie Le Roux, left. Cooper-Woolley added: “Competition for places is vital so to have a player of that experience and quality is only going to help. He’ll add something to an already potent attack.”