Exclusive: Wasps pushing hard for two English front rowers to bolster their ranks

Wasps may seem to be in a bit of disarray at the moment, as they reel from two disappointing results in the Heineken Champions Cup and the loss of Christian Wade to the NFL, but that does not mean they are not forging ahead with plans for next season.

The club bolstered their front row resources this past summer with the signing of Kieran Brookes and the promotion of Will Stuart from a senior academy deal to a full senior contract, and they are now looking at further English-qualified additions for the front row, specifically at loosehead and hooker.

Per RugbyPass sources, Wasps are very keen on Worcester Warriors hooker Jack Singleton and Harlequins loosehead Lewis Boyce.

Singleton, who has been involved in England training camps and squads but is yet to win his first cap, has been one of the shining lights for Worcester over the last couple of seasons. The 22-year-old, who is a product of the Saracens academy, is understood to be happy at Worcester and it seems as though it will take a significant offer from Wasps to convince him to make the move 40 miles to the north-east, but that is not putting off the Coventry-based club.

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The hooker did feature in England’s loss to the Barbarians this summer, although that was a non-capped fixture.

Boyce is in a similar situation to Singleton, having been involved with England in a training capacity, but remains without his first cap. He made the move to Harlequins last year after having graduated from Yorkshire Carnegie’s academy, but Joe Marler’s recent retirement from international rugby is unlikely to make his route to playing time in the capital any easier.

Wasps are not without resources at either position, but with Ashley Johnson and Matt Mullan both in their 30’s, a new influx of talent would go down well with director of rugby Dai Young.

If Wasps were able to convince both players to don the black and gold next season, it would be a reuniting of the England U20 front row from 2016, when Boyce, Singleton and Stuart all featured together, alongside the likes of Bath’s Jack Walker and another current Wasps front rower, Tom West.

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