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Dai Young targets Wasps’s crucial double header with Northampton and Toulon Dai Young vows Wasps will be on front foot against Northampton and Toulon
(about 4 hours later)
Dai Young has prepared Wasps for “cup final” rugby when they continue to fight on domestic and European fronts over the next two months. Dai Young has admitted that Wasps’ next two matches against the champions of England and the cream of the continent will define their season, urging his young side to stick to the vibrant brand of rugby that has caught the eye throughout.
The reigning champions Northampton are first up at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday night when the Premiership resumes after a three-week break. Wasps, without their captain, James Haskell, who is rested after starting all five of England’s Six Nations matches, will on Friday attempt to become only the second Premiership side to defeat Northampton on their own patch this season before heading to Toulon for their European Champions Cup quarter-final against last year’s winners.
Wasps are three points adrift of the play-off zone with five league games left but they occupy a top-six place that will guarantee European Champions Cup qualification next season. Northampton have resisted the temptation to rest their international contingent; Jim Mallinder will parachute Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood and George North back into his starting XV, leaving Wasps up against it to continue their pursuit of a play-off place. They begin the weekend three points adrift of the top four, having signed off before the Premiership took a three-week break with an entertaining if fruitless 17-26 defeat to Saracens – their first Premiership loss at the Ricoh Arena – in which Christian Wade and Elliot Daly scored breathtaking tries.
Northampton apart, Leicester, Exeter, London Irish and London Welsh also feature on Wasps’s domestic agenda, in addition to a Champions Cup quarter-final away against the European title holders Toulon early next month. Indeed, Wasps have scored the most tries this season with 60, two more than Northampton, and Young – who hands the 21-year-old fly-half Alex Lozowski, son of the former club captain and England international Rob, a first Premiership start – sees no point in curbing his side’s instincts.
“The next two games are massive for Wasps,” the director of rugby said. “You really don’t find more physical teams than the clubs we are playing on back-to-back weekends – the defending English champions, Northampton, followed by the defending European Champions, Toulon. So there are two huge tests ahead of this young squad, but they are the kind of games you play rugby for – to test yourself against the very best. “It is plain to see Northampton’s strengths, so we know what we are up against this week,” he said. “Their scrum is up there with the best in Europe, and they’ve scored more driving lineout tries than any other team in the Premiership this season. They were champions last season and they’re out in front, so they are the team for all of us to chase.
“Every game from now until the end of the season feels like a cup final. Even in the league, every point gained is going to be hugely important, and every point lost could end up being important as well. “You are not going to beat Northampton by sitting back and hoping they make mistakes that you can capitalise on. You’ve really got to take the game to them.
“We’ve got five Premiership games left – five games of huge significance. We are determined to get into the top six – that is the minimum standard for us and has been our target all season. “The next two games are massive. You really don’t find more physical teams than the clubs we are playing on back-to-back weekends. There are two huge tests ahead of this young squad, but they are the kind of games you play rugby for – to test yourself against the very best.”
“If things go well for us, there is no reason why we can’t push a little bit higher, but top six is the only thing we’ve talked about.” Wasps currently sit in sixth place with five matches remaining but just 10 points separate second and seventh. “Every game from now until the end of the season feels like a cup final,” added Young.
Young has decided to rest James Haskell against Saints following his Six Nations campaign with England – Ashley Johnson, Thomas Young and Nathan Hughes make up Wasps’ back row – while Alex Lozowski starts at fly-half in a team captained by the prop Matt Mullan. “Even in the league, every point gained is going to be hugely important, and every point lost could end up being important as well. We’ve got five Premiership games left – five games of huge significance. We are determined to get into the top six – that is the minimum standard for us and has been our target all season.”
Northampton parade their England forwards Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes and Tom Wood, while the Wales wing George North also starts following last weekend’s pulsating final day of Six Nations action.
Young added: “It is plain to see Northampton’s strengths, so we know what we are up against this week. Their scrum is up there with the best in Europe, and they’ve scored more driving lineout tries than any other team in the Premiership this season.
“They were champions last season and they’re out in front this season, so they are the team for all of us to chase.
“You are not going to beat Northampton by sitting back and hoping they make mistakes that you can capitalise on. You’ve really got to take the game to them.”
Wasps have announced the appointment of Lee Blackett as their new backs coach for next season. The 32-year-old will move to the Premiership from the Championship club Rotherham, where he is head coach. He will replace the former Wales fly-half Stephen Jones, who is returning to the Scarlets in a coaching capacity.