NOBODY WANTS ME
Haskell: My limbo at Wasps dents hopes of an England recall
play, I have got at least three or four years left in me.
‘Having been around the world I would prefer to stay in the UK. Wasps would be my first choice, but if there is no interest here then you have to do what you have to do. It is always the way.
‘ The most important thing would be England. If you made that decision to go abroad then you firmly slam the door on that.
‘I have the utmost respect for my back-row competitors. I think they are all brilliant players or they wouldn’t be involved.
‘I enjoy the challenge — I am not deluded. If you look at yourself and think you are never going to be able to do this then maybe you have to make a decision.
‘Being involved is very important — essentially every time you are out of it everything accelerates, so what was good enough before is not good enough now.
‘It is also a bit daunting getting invited back now because the coaches would have come up with some mental new thing, you’re going to be blowing.
‘Hopefully Eddie has still got my number, we shall see.’
Haskell, who toured New Zealand with the Lions this summer, has been in and out of the England squad for a decade and is desperate to add to his 75 caps. ‘I had a watershed moment after I missed out on England. I thought, “Hold on a minute I feel really good, I am not playing badly.” Being harsh on myself I probably wasn’t setting the world alight, so I am in a good place to move on.’
Off the field in 2018, Haskell will publish a health and fitness book and continue to DJ house music. But performing on the field is what drives him. Tonight is another chance to impress Jones — he starts for Wasps at blindside flanker against Bath at the Rec.