Forget Eddie Jones, Here's the Actual Best Thing About England Rugby

The real heart of the recent English rugby revival is not the national side, nor its cocky coach: it’s a club called Wasps. Scotty Stevenson explains why.

Once upon a time James Haskell called Dunedin home. In the same year he had also called Tokyo home too. The year before that it was Paris. He was about to become the first England International to play for a New Zealand franchise in Super Rugby.

It seemed Haskell was on a kind of valedictory tour; many thought his international career was all but toast, given the disastrous Rugby World Cup campaign of 2011. He told me at the time he was inspired to come to the southern city for the challenge of playing in New Zealand. I wrote a story about him. It was headlined: The Rugby Mercenary.

Haskell was all about learning. He was about to head back to England, and back to the club he grew up supporting, and the one he first played for professionally. The club was called London Wasps at the time, before it upped sticks and moved to Coventry at the end of 2014. Haskell had won a championship with them in his first season in the pros. It was the dominant club in those days, filled with big names of England Rugby – Dallaglio, Vickery, Dawson, Shaw, Lewsey to name a few.

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It was a club filled with tough nuts and, if you asked opposition players and fans, a fair few show ponies too. Wasps had a swagger, a cabinet full of trophies, and a host of legends to draw the fans.

And then, for a long time, it didn’t.

Haskell wanted to change that, and after his stint with the Highlanders (they finished 9th that season) he returned to Wasps and the process of transformation began. Fast-forward a couple of years and here’s how things stand: this weekend Wasps face Saracens in the semifinal of the European Cup. Two weeks ago they edged Exeter in a thrilling quarterfinal. They have already booked a semifinal in the Aviva Premiership with two rounds to go.

JAMES HASKELL. PHOTO / GETTY

More importantly, they play sensational rugby. It is brutal, it is fast, and it is supported by a spine of antipodeans who are influencing the club’s playing strategy and helping earn the results. Chief amongst them is former All Black Charles Piutau, who arrived at Wasps following the end of last year’s  ITM Cup season in New Zealand and has fast become one of the best players in Europe.

He’s not alone. Haskell’s return home reinvigorated his international career. He was given license by Eddie Jones to be an out and out mongrel during this year’s Grand Slam Six Nations campaign, and in a recent interview with The Guardian he revealed how much playing alongside former Wallabies great George Smith has helped his own game.

In the fiercely parochial world of the Premiership, Haskell could have been forgiven for feeling intensely insecure about the signing of Smith. Instead, he reached out to him, asked him questions, feasted on Smith’s outstanding knowledge, and transferred that information into his own performances.

That, as much as anything else, illustrates just why Wasps have turned the corner and can once again see the hazy outline of the winner’s circle: The club has found a way to embrace the influence of the outsiders, rather than fear their presence.

George Smith, Charles and Siale Piutau, Frank Halai, Jimmy Gopperth, Brad Davies, Alapati Leiua have all contributed to the freestyling, high flying game plan – a game plan that is finally paying dividends for coach Dai Young.

And it’s a game plan Wasps will be keen to stick with as they head into the biggest game they have played in a very long time. They must surely be the sentimental favourites to beat the kick and stick pressure rugby of Saracens when they meet this weekend. Saracens may well have grown into the genuine force of the English game, but they have done so without advancing the sport, at least stylistically.

Wasps, on the other hand, have clawed their way back into contention by running free, by knowing a good thing when it lands in Coventry, and by allowing the passion to flow back through the changing room doors.

James Haskell may be a rogue (a loveable one at that) but he is an astute player - smart enough to be confident in his own abilities while recognising the talent around him. Every day’s a school day, and Wasps have learned to play again. Along the way they are teaching England Rugby a lesson of their own.