EXCLUSIVE: 'I want to make it clear that no one broke any trust or created any animosity'
Dai Young is adamant his relationship with Willie le Roux has not been affected by the Springbok fullback’s international renaissance that removed him from the Premiership club’s squad as they dealt with a run of injuries that hit Joe Launchbury, Brad Shields and Lima Sopoaga.
Le Roux has enjoyed a remarkable return to Springbok colours playing in all six Rugby Championship matches and collecting his 50th cap in Saturday’s 32-30 last gasp loss to New Zealand. He did return to play for club against Sale during the Championship but what was initially expected to be a three game absence was dramatically changed by his superb form for his country.
The fullback will return to the club from South Africa tomorrow but needs to pass head injury protocols to take his place in the Wasps team for their opening Heineken Champions Cup clash against holders Leinster in Dublin on Friday night. Young is confident that Le Roux, who was taken off in All Blacks game, did not suffer a concussion and will be able to pass the tests to reclaim the Wasps No.15 jersey.
Le Roux was in test exile when he signed for Wasps but a change of coach brought in Rassie Erasmus and Young supported the full back’s bid to win back his test place a year out from the World Cup in Japan. However, it robbed Wasps of one of their key attacking weapons and as the injuries mounted, Young saw his men lose to Gloucester, highlighting the need for le Roux’s return.
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Young revealed Le Roux could be offered another one year contract but needs to start negotiations with the player and admitted the full back’s lengthy absence was a problem he had not expected to deal with.
Young said: “This could be Willie’s last season with Wasps but there is an option for another year and we will have a sit-down and talk about what he wants to do after the World Cup in Japan.
“I want to make it clear that no one broke any trust or created any animosity. We didn’t know how many games he was going to play and the situation was something we had not planned for.
“Rassie wasn’t going to be ringing me up and saying “this is my team for next week” and why should he, which meant there was an unknown factor and Willie didn’t know if he would be involved for two, four or six games.
“We had no real direct contact with South Africa and it was through the player. The reality of it is that Willie thought his international career was over but there was a change of regime and Rassie made it clear he wanted him back in. That was something we hadn’t accounted for because we didn’t expect him to be playing in the Rugby Championship or involved in the November tour by the Springboks.
“There hasn’t been a break down between Wasps, the player or South Africa and there isn’t any bad feeling. But, it would be wrong for me to say we expected him to be involved in those internationals. However, these things happen in international sport and my relationship with Willie is good and I would never do anything to stop anyone taking part in international rugby.
“He wanted to come back for the Sale game because he has enjoyed his time with Wasps but then went back to play against the All Blacks – who wouldn’t want to do that? There is no animosity and if I was vague with my answers about the situation in recent weeks it was because I wasn’t sure if Willie was going to be picked. I am anticipating – although I haven’t heard anything – that Willie will be involved with the November tour and then he comes backs to Wasps.”
Young is hoping the skills of All Black No10 Lima Sopoaga, who missed the Gloucester defeat, allied to le Roux’s return can guide his team through a difficult Champions Cup pool and said: “Lima’s game will be studied by the opposition and we have tinkered with our attack because he gives us something different. He has had a really good start and showed some great touches. He is going under the radar a little bit and he is going to grown in stature leading our attack.
“I don’t think we can take anymore injuries and seriously think we can knock over teams like Leinster, Bath and Toulouse. As long we don’t pick anymore up I am confident we can give a really good account of ourselves. I am happy to back us against anybody at home and you have to get something away from home. Last year we had a really poor 20 minutes against Harlequins put us out of the competition.
“This is probably the toughest pool we have had and so it will be hard but we have enough ammunition to get through.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments