Head of steam: Wasps aiming for forward momentum
9:50am Friday 10th February 2012 in Wasps By Alan Feldberg
Wasps need to use their home games to build up a head of steam
THE most efficient winning machine in English club rugby comes to Wycombe on Sunday when Saracens take the field at Adams Park with revenge on their minds.
It’s not a great recipe for a pick-me-up if you’ve lost six league matches on the spin.
Wasps though, have been preparing for the game in a bolder mood than they possibly have a right to be.
Director of rugby Dai Young said: “We’re looking forward to it. We know we’re playing against a champion team, we know what they’re going to bring.
“But it’s got to be more about us and making sure we deliver what we’ve been talking about this week.”
Recent results don’t inspire confidence. Apart from those six league losses, their last two games have a been a home loss to Exeter and an away drubbing at Northampton.
Both games came in the LV Cup though, and the teams Wasps sent out were a level below second team.
Young insists the Amlin Challenge Cup wins over Rovigo and Bordeaux are a better indication of the team’s form.
He said: “We’ve had a month away from the Premiership and we pretty much got what we wanted out of it...a home quarter-final in the Amlin Challenge Cup.
“We were a little bit disappointed with the result [at Northampton], but I don’t think the last two weeks will have any relevance to this week.”
In fact, Wasps will be far stronger than they were when they last played in the Premiership on January 7.
Six new signings have followed Tinus Du Plessis in and, equally as important, the team’s totems have had a chance to rest and should take the field on Sunday fully charged.
That won’t include Joe Simpson or Rob Webber though. They are on international duty against Italy this weekend, but their absence is a fair swap for the six Saracens in the same England squad.
Young said: “You would have to say we’d rather play them with their internationals away, we’d be lying if we said it didn’t make any difference, but the players coming in are just as dangerous.
“They want to keep hold of the shirt, they want to make it difficult for the players coming back and they’ll be really hungry.”
And Saracens’ unique brand of rugby also makes it easier to inter-change players.
Young said: “They’re extremely well coached. They know their systems and they stick to their systems.
“You don’t win championships and leagues with a poor squad. It’s not the team that wins things, it’s the squad and these players are used to stepping in when the big boys away.
“We’ll be as near to full strength as we can be, but we know we’re going to have to be at our best to get the result.”
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