Bassett confident of hitting his peak at Wasps
WASPS wing Josh Bassett is ready to push for England honours after turning down the chance to replace George North at Northampton.
Bassett, 26, was heavily linked with a move to Franklin’s Gardens in January before inking a new deal at Wasps, where he averages a try every other game.
Former England U20s star Bassett told The Rugby
Paper: “When your contract’s up you’re always going to be linked with different clubs and to be seen as a potential replacement for George North was great – you want to be compared to those guys. But you’ve always got to think carefully about what’s best for you, where you think you’re going to progress the most and where you can add the most value.
“I feel I’m going to add most value where I am now and with Dai Young resigning and the players we have here, you’ve seen how we’ve built each season.
“I want to be at Wasps, this is my fifth season and I’ve enjoyed every minute since signing from Bedford. I’ve developed so much and I feel I’ve still got a lot of developing to do. My goal is to reach my full potential and, hopefully, exceed it.”
Unsung Bassett regularly cuts the muster against the biggest names and, having faced down Jonny May at Welford Road last Sunday, the powerful wing is looking forward to taking on another Red Rose contender this Friday in Denny Solomona.
Wasps go to Sale for a crucial Premiership clash, with Bassett, below, adding: “These are the guys you want to prove yourself against if you want to push for honours.
“They’re in and around that England squad at the moment so to pit yourself against the best is where you want to be. You learn from playing against these people and my record is pretty good against them, so I relish these opportunities whenever they arise. “Every player wants to be in that England squad and if the chance comes I’ll grab it, but in the meantime we’re solely focussed on the Premiership.” Third-placed Wasps slipped up at Leicester, but Bassett said: “The allround performance was pretty good, we just didn’t finish all the line-breaks we made.
“We’ll look to be a lot more clinical now and the aim is to cement ourselves in the top four and push towards a home semi-final in May, but we know teams can struggle at Sale, especially going there on a Friday night when it often seems to be raining.
“We’ll need to go there and front-up but also not go away from how we like to play the game, and hopefully we can capitalise on our opportunities.”