Wasps are letting their defence coach go

Wasps have confirmed that following the expiry of his contract defence coach Phil Blake’s two-year spell at the club has come to an end.

The Coventry based side conceded 61 tries in the regular season, compared to Saracens 40 and Exeter Chiefs’ 42.

After a distinguished rugby league playing and coaching career, the 54-year-old Australian worked with the Wallabies, Western Force and Manly prior to moving to England to work as part of the coaching team that took Leicester Tigers to an Aviva Premiership semi-final in 2015.

He joined Wasps in 2016 since when the club has twice been part of the domestic play-offs and also appeared in a European Champions Cup quarter-final.

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Phil Blake said: “I would like to express gratitude to Dai plus my coaching colleagues Lee Blackett and Andy Titterrell plus all the rest of the staff at Wasps for the last two years.

“I am now looking forward to a break and to catching up with family before moving on to a new challenge.”

Director of rugby Dai Young said:

“The players and staff have enjoyed working with Phil. On behalf of everyone at the club I’d like to thank him for his efforts and wish him every success in the future.

“With Ian Costello and Danny Wilson joining Lee and Andy we clearly have more coaching resource available for next season.

“Ian has a lot of defence coaching experience from his time with Munster, so he will take the lead for us in this area.

“And now Danny has joined Andy to work with the forwards, I will also be contributing to defence.

“Lee will continue to coach the backs, and all four coaches will have some involvement in player skill development.”