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Fans warm to the prospect of some Wasps legends returning post-Young
Dai Young’s nine-year association with Wasps ended on Tuesday, heralding the start of a new era for the Coventry club.
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The Welshman guided the six-time Premiership champions through some extreme lows, which included possible bankruptcy and relegation, to the Premiership final in 2017.
But with the club struggling this season near the foot of the Gallagher Premiership table, a change was likely, particularly in a season where there is now no threat of relegation due to Saracens automatic drop from the top flight.
Since Young stepped back from his first-team duties last week, there has been plenty of speculation as to who could be the next director of rugby at the Ricoh Arena.
A number of ex-Wasps players’ names have been bandied about, with Joe Worsley, Dave Walder and Rob Howley being the leading candidates.
(Continue reading below…)
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Worsley played over 300 games for Wasps, 78 for England and one for the British and Irish Lions, winning a World Cup, four Premiership titles and two Heineken Cups during a glittering career.
The former flanker has worked with Bordeaux and Georgia and is now defence coach of Castres.
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This needs to happen! Bring back the old school and find that passion in wearing the Wasps badge once again!
— Gemma Dorling (@Gemma_Dorling) February 16, 2020
Would love both Joe Worsley and Rob Howley back, think they’d make a great team and bring back the passion for the Wasps badge.
— Oliver Jackson (@Ollie_Jackson89) February 16, 2020
Similarly, Walder and Howley played for Wasps during their glory years of the 2000s, winning silverware along the way. Walder is currently Newcastle Falcons’ head coach, while Howley is hoping to return to coaching following his ban for betting offences.
Would be brilliant. New coaching set up is desperately needed to bring freshness. We've got a new, young squad and a new coaching team to go with the new training base will help.
— Mattie JB (@MattieJB1208) February 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/girimeister/status/1229348482600841217?s=20
Need to replace one legend with another. We need Howley, Walder or Worsley.
— Matt Williams (@MWIncorporated) February 18, 2020
Wasps suffered a mass exodus of players at the beginning of the last decade with club legends moving on and retiring. That coincided with some financial struggles, but the move to Coventry promised a brighter future for the club.
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However, the core of the team which took Wasps to the Premiership final in 2017 have moved on in the last couple of the seasons and the club will need to rebuild again over the coming years.
The departure of so many players, as well as relocation to another part of the country, can leave a club lost and bereft of identity.
Therefore, many Wasps fans want those who were part of the club during the glory years to take them forward and bring pride in the shirt again. This is not to say that Young did not do that, but the likes of Worsley fit the bill now his position is vacant.
It needs someone like Joe Worsley who understands the club to come in. Alex King as well. I don’t care for flashy names but want someone who loves the club to come in with fresh ideas. Hard decision for club but on balance the right decision to move in a different direction
— Mania (@hickmania23) February 15, 2020
Would love to see Rob Howley, Joe Worsley and Alex King all part of the coaching set up next season 🤞
— Oliver Jackson (@Ollie_Jackson89) February 11, 2020
The bonus is that many of Wasps former players now linked with the club have had successful careers as coaches so far, so this is not just a case of appointing fan favourites for the sake of it.
This is the model that Leicester Tigers have tried to stick to over the years, as players such as Dean Richards, Pat Howard, Richard Cockerill and recently Geordan Murphy have taken charge of the club after retirement.
It is a way to ensure continuity in the direction and approach of the team. This is an option that Wasps fans seem keen on.
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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