Varndell rallying cry for Wasps' 'must-win' game

P54 Manu Tuilagi

15 April 2013

Leicester 35-16 Wasps

Tom Varndell is confident London Wasps will regain their winning touch in the climax of the season despite a fifth straight Premiership defeat leaving their Heineken Cup hopes in the balance.

Wasps were fourth until February but Dai Young’s side have now slipped to eighth in the table and are three points adrift of the top-six with just two rounds remaining.

Varndell knows another defeat in Sunday’s clash with Exeter at Adams Park could banish their Heineken Cup ambitions but the wing is hopeful Wasps will deliver.

“There’s a lot of disappointment and we’ve got to sort it out for next week,” said Varndell. “It’s a must-win game. It’s all to play for and it’s still in our hands. We need two big performances and that’s what we’re going to give.

“You never lose confidence. You’ve got to have confidence in yourselves but we know that, if we play like we did against Leicester, then we won’t make the top six. We’ve got to do a lot of work this week in training and we will come out fighting.”

Leicester targeted the Wasps backline through Manu Tuilagi while his slighter compatriot Mathew Tait was equally effective yesterday.

The visitors were without a raft of key players for the Welford Road defeat. James Haskell missed the match with a knee injury and Marco Wentzel with a shoulder problem while Joe Launchbury and Andrea Masi were rested.

“They’re quality players, international players and if they’re missing in any side then a team will struggle,” said the 27-year-old.

“Having them back next week, hopefully, will strengthen everything and we can go into the game in a positive frame of mind. I know Dai wasn’t happy at half-time and this week’s training will be tough. Our video analysis will be brutal on Tuesday when we review the game but the boys know that there are standards and today we didn’t meet them.”

Wasps avoided relegation by just one point last season and there is a sense from Young that, even if his side miss out on the top six, he will remain content with the team’s progress this year.

The Wasps coach said: “When we were fourth I could see in the horizon these sort of fixtures [against Leicester] that were coming along. We knew one or two injuries and we might struggle against full strength squads. But it’s two cup finals for us now and I’m confident we can win at home against Exeter.

“There are two games, Exeter and Sale, and if we win those two there’s no reason we can’t be in the top six.”

Meanwhile, Tony Copsey today resigned as London Welsh chief executive in the wake of the club’s relegation from the Premiership following their 31-14 defeat to Northampton.

It is understood that tensions created by Kelvin Bryon, the club’s major financial backer, withdrawing his funding, were at the heart of Copsey’s decision.

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