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Wasps captain signs new deal with club
It has been announced today that Wasps captain Joe Launchbury has signed a new contract with the club.
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The second row joined Wasps Academy in the 2009 season, made his Premiership debut against Leicester Tigers two years later and has since gone on to make 117 appearances in black and gold.
Delighted to announce that @joe_launch has signed a contract extension with the club!
The second row joined Wasps Academy in the 2009 season and has since gone on to make 117 appearances in black and gold.
Read the full story at https://t.co/voK3DvVw48 pic.twitter.com/Q8F6fbqAJd
— Wasps (@WaspsRugby) December 5, 2017
During his time, he has played a pivotal role in the club’s steady progress up the Aviva Premiership table, climbing from 11th to reach the play-offs in 2016 and the Final in 2017.
Launchbury has also been an instrumental part of Wasps’ progress to the European Rugby Champions Cup quarter and semi-finals during the last three seasons.
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The 26-year-old succeeded Matt Mullan and James Haskell as Wasps’ skipper last season and ended his first campaign at the helm by leading the team out at Twickenham, then going within a few seconds of lifting the Premiership trophy.
The 6ft 6 lock forward’s outstanding club form quickly brought him to the attention of the England selectors. He made his international debut against Fiji in the 2012 Autumn Internationals, going on to be named the 2012 Player of the Series, and then started all five fixtures of England’s Six Nations campaign. He was also part of England’s 2015/16 Six Nations Grand Slam winning squad.
Launchbury has won 47 caps for his country and was man of the match during England’s recent Autumn series win over Australia, his fifth award in the Eddie Jones era.
The Wasps’ director of rugby, Dai Young, is understandably delighted that his captain has opted to sign a new deal with the club, saying: “We know a number of sides would have been keen for Joe to join them and it is a mark of his loyalty and belief in the squad we are assembling that he has put pen to paper to sign on again with Wasps.
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“Joe has been with us for a long time and has stuck through the tougher times here. He has also experienced more recent times when we’ve been much more competitive and hopefully he can be around when we go the next step and achieve some silverware, which he deserves.
“During the time Joe has been with us, he’s developed from a club player into an international player and I believe he is now a world-class second row in his own right.
“He has grown with the added responsibility of the captaincy and he’s a really big part of everything we are about. Launchers will undoubtedly play an even bigger role in the next stage of our development, as we aim to continue competing at the top and try to get our hands on something over the next couple of seasons.
“It’s a well-known cliché that when you need people the stronger get stronger, and he certainly stood up when things weren’t going well at the beginning of the season, leading from the front in every game and setting the benchmark in training.
“It was a new experience for some of the players and staff who hadn’t been through that kind of run. Joe had experience of some of the darker days, didn’t panic and provided a real example of what’s needed not only to be a world-class player but also a world-class leader. We are really lucky to have him on board.”
Speaking about his contract extension, Joe Launchbury said: “I am delighted to sign a new contract to stay at Wasps. It’s a place my family and I have come to call home over the past seven years and I’m really pleased to sign on again for a bit longer at the club, as we work hard to fulfil the ambitions we have as a squad.
“Over the past few weeks, it has been great to see a number of players signing new contracts, enabling the club to retain quality players in what is already a fantastic squad. That reflects the belief we have in Dai [Young] and in our squad, that together we can build on the progress we’ve made over the past few seasons and take our game to the next level. I really want to play my part in that moving forward.
“We’ve had our disappointments, but I feel over the past few years we’ve really shown our potential on both the European and domestic scene. I truly believe we can fulfil that potential over the coming years and really want to be part of that.”
Launchbury joins Elliot Daly, Tom Cruse, Ashley Johnson, Rob Miller and Alex Rieder in announcing contract extensions with Wasps in recent weeks.
Comments on RugbyPass
Will rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to comments