1
Launchbury compared to legends Dallaglio and Shaw after agreeing new deal
By Josh Raisey
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Wallaroos captain reflects on Black Ferns’ success with sevens stars
3
Springboks flyhalf's latest injury worry
4
Initial Immanuel Feyi-Waboso injury update does not sound promising
5
Latest Comments
The boy needs to bulk up if wants to play 10 or 11 to handle those hits, otherwise he could always make a brilliant reserve for the wings if he stays away from the stretcher.
Go to commentsIn another recent article I tried to argue for a few key concept changes for EPCR which I think could light the game up in the North.
First, I can't remember who pointed out the obvious elephant in the room (a SA'n poster?), it's a terrible time to play rugby in the NH, and especially your pinnacle tournament. It's been terrible watching with seemingly all the games I wanted to watch being in the dark, hardly able to see what was going on. The Aviva was the only stadium I saw that had lights that could handle the miserable rain. If the global appeal is there, they could do a lot better having day games.
They other primary idea I thuoght would benefit EPCR most, was more content. The Prem could do with it and the Top14 could do with something more important than their own league, so they aren't under so much pressure to sell games. The quality over quantity approach.
Trim it down to two 16 team EPCR competitions, and introduce a third for playing amongst the T2 sides, or the bottom clubs in each league should simply be working on being better during the EPCR.
Champions Cup is made up of league best 15 teams, + 1, the Challenge Cup winner. Without a reason not to, I'd distribute it evenly based on each leauge, dividing into thirds and rounded up, 6 URC 5 Top14 4 English. Each winner (all four) is #1 rank and I'd have a seeding round or two for the other 12 to determine their own brackets for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I'd then hold a 6 game pool, home and away, with consecutive of each for those games that involve SA'n teams. Preferrably I'd have a regional thing were all SA'n teams were in the same pool but that's a bit complex for this simple idea.
That pool round further finalises the seeding for knockout round of 16. So #1 pool has essentially duked it out for finals seeding already (better venue planning), and to see who they go up against 16, 15,etc etc. Actually I think I might prefer a single pool round for seeding, and introduce the home and away for Ro16, quarters, and semis (stuffs up venue hire). General idea to produce the most competitive matches possible until the random knockout phase, and fix the random lottery of which two teams get ranked higher after pool play, and also keep the system identical for the Challenge Cup so everthing is succinct. Top T2 side promoted from last year to make 16 in Challenge Cup
Go to comments