Wasps face ‘test of character’
London Wasps Director of Rugby Dai Youngs says his side faces ‘a real test of character’ against Bath this weekend.
Young said there had been a tough video analysis session early in the week reflecting on the loss to Harlequins at the London Double Header at the weekend.
“Well the good thing about this league is that as soon as one game is over you have to move on quickly to focusing on the next one,” said Young.
“We have gone through the video at length and we’re not under any illusions about the mistakes we made in the last 25 minutes or so.
“For 55 minutes we were very pleased with how we played but then we made unforced mistakes that put us under pressure, gave them momentum and we know what a quality team they are when they get their tails up.”
Young added that the momentum of the current Aviva Premiership champions, plus tiring bodies had contributed to a poor end to the game.
“There are a lot of reasons why we fell away late in the game. I think one is that players ran out of steam - we have to be honest with that.
“Quite a few of our guys hadn’t much game time in pre-season, some had none and some had 40 minutes so that probably had an impact, but at the end of the day it is game we should have won.
“I am not sure there are many other teams but Harlequins who could have come back like that but I never felt comfortable with the lead throughout because we have all seen how quickly they can score. We are frustrated but we must learn from it.”
Young also warned that despite the disappointment from the result, it was also vital that his side take the positives from the game.
“Yes we are disappointed and we know you shouldn’t lose against any team with that kind of lead - but it’s happened and we have to recognise too the positives from the game.
“We played some of our best rugby since I joined the club in the first 55 minutes which is encouraging and we have to build on it. The message I have given to the players this week is to be disappointed but be positive at the same time.”
Looking ahead to Bath, who won their first outing against Worcester, he added, “Bath are a totally different challenge for us and it will be a real test of character. They will test us physically and they will come straight at us and we have to make sure that we have to meet fire with fire.
“We have to earn the right to play rugby down there and that means getting stuck in from the off. They will be confident at home so it’s a huge test for us to go down there and get the result we want but we are all looking forward to it.”