"A Different Life" – Joe Launchbury: England lock talks on rumours of Wasps comeback
10/24/2024 09:24 AM
There has been plenty of speculation in recent weeks, that former Premiership powerhouses Wasps could be set for a comeback. Wasps entered financial administration in November 2022, after feeling the sting of the Covid pandemicand the rapidly declining revenue of an empty Ricoh Arena.
However, recent reports suggest that Wasps could be set for a return, alongside their similarly ousted counterparts Worcester Warriors and London Irish. One player who certainly welcomes the news of Wasps’ return is club legend Joe Launchbury, who has since enjoyed a brief spell in Japan, before signing for Harlequins at the start last season.
Launchbury was asked for his thoughts on Wasps potential return, with the 70-capped England international describing how his run with the club felt like ‘a different life’. Much has changed in professional rugby since Wasps closed their doors, with Launchbury expressing his uncertainty upon any immediate plans.
“Yeah, it feels like a bit of a different life. But I think we move on so quickly in sport, from week to week, we try and park things as quickly as we can. And I guess what happened there, and what, what my involvement was, and my feeling for the club, I don’t think you can, you can have a wash and go overnight, but I’m not involved in any of the decision making with the club.
“Moving forward, I wish the club well, but in terms of anything around that, I have absolutely no idea what’s going on. That’s the true, honest of it, I don’t think they have a clue, to be honest what’s going on! They are still deciding on a few things. I guess we’ll see.
“But in terms of me being here (Harlequins) now, like I said, I’m really enjoying the difference, the change in my role. There’s some special people in this organisation away from the pitch, guys who aren’t even involved in the rugby side. For me at my stage of my career, it’s a great place to be.”
Launchbury’s most recent feature for Quins, saw him run out for a full 80 minute effort in the narrow defeat to Bath. The lock has been getting to grips with a re-shuffling of the Londoners’ engine room, and this past match saw Dino Lamb suffer a head injury for the early withdrawal. Irne Herbst was on for the Italian a quarter of the way into the match, with Launchbury gutted for his teammate’s hopes of an Autumn run with the Azzurri.
“We’re quite good in the week with the preparation in terms of chopping and changing. Today was maybe something we haven’t practiced too much, to be honest, with Dino off, unfortunately, getting a head injury quite early. Me and Irne probably haven’t played and trained together as much as maybe some of the other combinations.”
“He’s (Dino Lamb) up and about in the changing room. I think it he obviously didn’t pass his protocols. So, I don’t know what his next week looks like. Obviously, he’s back in the Italian squad, I know how much it means to be back in there for him with he’s just had a huge layoff with some injuries. To get named in that was obviously massive for him. So I really hope he turns around quick and gets himself out there to train with Italy.”
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