Wasps pair to sign new deals

14 April 2012

Joe Worsley and Fraser Waters will follow Lawrence Dallaglio's lead and sign new contracts with London Wasps within the next 24 hours.

Dallaglio, 31, gave Wasps officials the news they had been hoping for at the weekend, ending prolonged speculation by deciding to accept an estimated ? 30,000- a- year pay cut in exchange for the two-year agreement which will see the England No8 play out the remainder of his career at the club he joined from school.

Now, in the wake of the Dallaglio settlement, Wasps have acted quickly to secure the further services of his fellow backrow forward Worsley, who has won 30 England caps, and experienced 27-year old centre Waters, who has been playing some of the best rugby of his life this season.

Worsley, 26, will sign today after starring in the 46-13 victory over Italian side Calvisano at High Wycombe, a win which puts Wasps back on top of the Heineken Cup pool six, while Waters is expected to put pen to paper tomorrow.

Dallaglio said: "The reasons I am staying at Wasps are more about rugby than about finance. We won the Zurich Premiership and the Parker Pen Cup last season and I'm sure we can also win trophies this season.

"I want to continue to play at the highest level, and you can't do much better in that regard than by playing for Wasps.

"Also, guys like Joe Worsley, Fraser Waters, Josh Lewsey and Alex King are coming to the top of their careers at the same time, and it's great to be among them."

Wasps, now four points ahead of their French rivals, can still qualify for the quarter-finals as pool winners even if they take only a bonus point in defeat in Perpignan.

Meanwhile, England coach Clive Woodward is expected to announce his initial Six Nations training squad this week, and speculation over the identity of Martin Johnson's successor as captain was heightened when Johnson revealed his preference for Saracens flanker Richard Hill.

Dallaglio remains the bookmakers' favourite, but he refused to comment on the England leadership question yesterday.

Harlequins are all but assured of a place in the Parker Pen Cup semi-finals, but Saracens must overturn a 16-point deficit against fancied Montferrand if they are to join their London rivals in the last four of Europe's second-tier competition.

Quins were impressive as they trounced Brive 41-8 in Saturday's first leg at The Stoop, while Sarries were grateful for lock forward Simon Raiwalui's late try as they went down 26-10 in Montferrand yesterday.

Both second legs will take place next Sunday, and automatic qualification into next season's Heineken Cup is a lucrative prize awaiting the eventual winner of a competition which, by this stage, loses little by comparison with its 'big brother'.

George Harder, Harlequins' explosive Samoan wing, grabbed two fine tries while hooker Tani Fuga and utility back Simon Keogh also crossed for crowdpleasing scores. Fly-half Paul Burke, meanwhile, collected 21 points in what head coach Mark Evans described as "a masterclass in goal-kicking".

Brive, though disappointing for a team which sit on top of their pool in the French championship, were missing several key players and will no doubt provide a far sterner test of Quins' character and ability when they take the

field in front of their own passionate fans.

Evans said: "We have not had any problems in putting points on the board this season, so I would be very upset indeed if we failed to score anything at all during the second-leg in France.

"In fact, if we were to lose by 34 or more points at Brive I would be simply devastated. We just have to go out there and treat the game as if the score was 0-0, not 33-0 in our favour."

Will Greenwood, Quins' England centre, will be available for the second leg after pulling out of Saturday's match with a shoulder injury.

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Wasps pair to sign new deals

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