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Launchbury compared to legends Dallaglio and Shaw after agreeing new deal
Wasps have struggled to keep hold of some of their best players in recent years, but they have had no such trouble with skipper Joe Launchbury as he signed a new contract on Thursday.
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The club made the announcement in bizarre style on social media, with a Lord of the Rings remake that went down very well.
Since the announcement, the lock has been described as a “legend” and a “one-club man” by team-mates and fans.
The 28-year-old has even been compared to club legends like Lawrence Dallaglio and Simon Shaw for his commitment to the two-time European champions.
However, unlike some of the titans of Wasps throughout the years, Launchbury has not played through an era showered in glory or silverware.
? Long live The King…#LaunchTime ? pic.twitter.com/a9Bx3Ersr8
— Wasps Rugby (@WaspsRugby) November 28, 2019
Legend!!!! Always leading from the front! Congrats Skips @joe_launch https://t.co/oxhnLsYlJs
— jimmy gopperth (@jimmygopps) November 28, 2019
Huge news for sticker club! ?? #GotGotGotNeed #Shiny https://t.co/95DlafcFna
— Tom Cruse (@cruse_dog2) November 28, 2019
In fact, Dai Young’s side have endured some troubling years this past decade, which has seen them come perilously close to going into administration and being relegated.
Further, in an era where ‘one-club men’ seem to be less common, this makes 62-cap England international’s commitment all the more commendable.
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https://twitter.com/TheWaspsReport/status/1200027548983472128?s=20
@joe_launch epitomises what this club is all about. He is the equivalent of Dallaglio, Shaw and Worsley back in the day. A one club man through good times and tough times. We really are lucky to have him. Thank you Joe.
— Matt R (@Black_Gold_67) November 28, 2019
@joe_launch Sooooo happy with this news. A giant of a man, a giant of a Captain. Thanks Joe. As fans this is the best news we could have wanted all season
— Caro883 (@mooryfield) November 28, 2019
At the end of last season, the club saw two stalwarts of the team leave, Joe Simpson to Gloucester and Elliot Daly to Saracens, as well as Christian Wade making a move to American football in late 2018.
The same thing happened the year before as Danny Cipriani and James Haskell both moved on, albeit that was after their second stint with Wasps.
With new players arriving this season, it looked as though the shell of players that have been with Young throughout were moving on, but Launchbury has remained ever reliable.
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Launchers is the heartbeat of our great club .. wonderful news ?? ? #COYW ??????
— Peter Luft (@peter_luft) November 28, 2019
This has made me so happy, a legend like Joe being here to help the likes of the Willis bros, Umaga and all the other Academy lads and youngsters. They are our future a with a leader like Joe the future is bright. ?????????????
— Steve Skillin (@SteveSkillin) November 28, 2019
Great news @joe_launch ! A brilliant club man and I'm sure you'll continue to be a great role model and inspiration for the youngsters coming through. #COYW
— Richard Smith. ? ???? Happily Woke?? (@smithrichard) November 28, 2019
Wasps players have had a greater reason to leave than most other players in England given their relocation to Coventry in 2014. Such upheaval can cause an exodus, which has undoubtedly happened over the past five years.
However, with international stars such as Malakai Fekitoa and Matteo Minozzi arriving in the summer, and emerging talents like the Willis brothers and Jacob Umaga breaking through, this is a promising time for Launchbury as captain of Wasps.
WATCH: Dylan Hartley tells The Rugby Pod what it was like to captain England under Eddie Jones
Comments on RugbyPass
I’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. Second, New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
1 Go to commentsThose are pretty good draws for the two top Aussie teams. I certainly wouldn't want my Chiefs to have a quarter final in Brisbane. None of the top teams will want the Crusaders.
1 Go to commentsHonestly, I am a bit lost here …. Ireland - RSA was (at least in my opinion) perhaps (from a purely technical / rugby-skills-show point of view) the pinnacle of the RWC2023 - almost flawless playing (putting aside the kicking of RSA which was the difference between the two teams), rugby at it’s very best …. if I were a Bok and after the game some Irish lads came around saying “see you in 5 weeks same place”, I definitely wouldn’t have thought of it as being in any way “arrogant”, rather a sort of jolly “if we both continue to play like this, no one could stop us” - besides, few of us fans would have, at that time, been surprised to see the same teams playing on 23 september and 28 october 2023 ….. well, we all know Ireland chose to hit a slump to keep the QF curse alive …..
134 Go to commentsThere’s value gleaned from having an All Black star running and training with your team. How many games he starts (or even where he plays in the backline) will be decided on a week by week basis based on the needs for that week. But the overall learning and growth for all concerned, I’d think, is massively beneficial. Especially for Irish players.
8 Go to commentsSon, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
8 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
134 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
134 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
4 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
134 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
8 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
8 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
3 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to comments