The domestic season may be drawing to a close but for Joe Launchbury it is finally beginning in earnest. The England lock will be back on the bench for Wasps’ significant Premiership game with Leicester this weekend after six months on the sidelines and is itching to make up for lost time with both club and country.
The 24-year-old Launchbury has been out for so long that Wasps were still playing in High Wycombe rather than Coventry when he last featured in a home league game. Assuming he travels to the right stadium on Saturday, however, both he and his club coaches hope his lengthy enforced break following pre-Christmas surgery to repair a slipped disc will benefit both Wasps and England.
It is the belief of Wasps’ director of rugby, Dai Young, that the national team will take delivery of “a dangerous animal” when they commence their World Cup preparations and Launchbury is adamant his neck problems are behind him in every sense. “It’s been a long road to get back to where I am but hopefully I’ve proved to Dai over the last month that I can put my head into things,” he said on Tuesday. “I’d be lying if I said it’s my favourite place to injure but it’s part of rugby. I took a lot of heart from the fact that guys like Tom Johnson and Dan Cole experienced similar injuries to me and are back playing well.
By Launchbury’s own admission last year had become an increasing struggle, with his form tailing off towards the end of a season in which he featured in 34 games. “I was tired and took a bit of criticism on the New Zealand tour on the back of a long season. I feel in a completely different place now. I feel fresh and the parts of my body that felt sore are fine. I don’t believe it was a case of wear and tear, I think it was one or two head-on collisions.
“I went into the England camp believing I’d be in contention to play in the November Tests but then we realised it was slightly more serious and that I needed to have the operation. It was a bit of a shock … I thought maybe a couple of weeks would do it. The surgeon was always extremely positive … it’s just been a case of getting my strength back.”
Wasps are suitably grateful as they seek to advance their play-off prospects against their new Midlands neighbours at a sold-out Ricoh Arena. “We’re really looking forward to having Joe back,” confirmed Young.
“He’s worked his socks off to get back and I’m seeing a well-rested, very eager Joe Launchbury. Before the injury Joe had been absolutely swamped with top quality rugby for 18 months to two years. No one wants to have a serious injury but every cloud has a silver lining. I think England will have a dangerous animal come the World Cup and hopefully we’ll get some quality rugby out of him before then too.”
Launchbury, whose baby daughter Blythe was born a fortnight before he underwent his operation, is well aware, however, that his rivals for an England starting jersey will not be standing idly back and waving him through. “There are no guarantees in sport. Guys have been playing well all season and I’ve been sitting on the sidelines. I understand there’s an element of pressure on me but there’s a World Cup in a few months’ time and that’s a big part of my planning. I want to prove I’m back fit and firing.
“I’ve been getting a bit of stick from the guys for running around so much in training because I’ve been bottled up in the gym for so long. I’m itching to play but it’s not about me this weekend. It’s all about getting a win in what is probably our biggest game of the season, if not the biggest since I’ve been at the club.”
Leicester, three points ahead of Wasps in fourth position in the table with two regular season games to play, have also received a timely boost. Club captain Ed Slater will be available for bench duty, having recovered from the knee reconstruction surgery he underwent last summer.