Nick Cain talks to Joe Launchbury about Wasps’ late season challenges and his advancement with England

Joe Launchbury does not conform to the old school second row stereotype. His face doesn’t look as if it’s been flirting with a meat-grinder, his ears haven’t gone cauliflower, and rather than use his saucepan-sized mitts to dish out punishment and his size 15 boots to trample on any part of the human anatomy in its path, he employs his hands to pass as dextrously as most half-backs and his feet to cover most blades of grass on the pitch.
The skills, mobility and effectiveness showcased in Launchbury’s stand-out Six Nations campaign, in particular three momentum changing turnovers and a try-saving tap-tackle against Ireland, have already seen the fair-haired Wasps lock with the unlined features dubbed the baby-faced assassin.
His leaning towards the unorthodox end of the spectrum of international back five forwards is reminiscent of the unclassifiables of other eras. The roaming Scottish lock Alastair McHarg and the swashbuckling English No.8 and Rosslyn Park lock Andy Ripley belong to the amateur order of the out-of-the-ordinary, whereas the brilliant Wallaby 1991 and 1999 double World Cup-winner John Eales had similar billing in the amateur-pro cross-over years.
It has led to fulsome praise for the 22-year-old from some quarters, with Sir Clive Woodward leading the post-Six Nations plaudits, hailing Launchbury as an extraordinary talent, and both he and his England second-row partner, Courtney Lawes, as world-class.
Others treat the 6ft 6ins, 18 stone lock’s rapid ascent from a handful of first team games for Wasps to Test star with 19 caps, all in the space of a year and a half, with a degree of scepticism. They are concerned that there is not enough glowering aggression about Launchbury – not enough naked desire crash up the middle and dominate – and that the unorthodox tag simply masks deficiencies in his knowledge of the second row manual.
Here, as he took a short breather from Wasps build-up to today’s home Amlin Cup quarter-final against Gloucester, is how Launchbury responds when asked why he is not the domineering type.
“I genuinely find this is the toughest question to answer. I feel like second row is a sub-unit in a pack of eight. Sometimes you might not need a jumping second row if you’ve got a back rower who can jump really well, or a ball carrying second row if you’ve got a No.8 who can carry.
“It’s all about what complements you and your second row partner. I feel that me and Courtney get on well together because we try to play the game in a similar way. We try to be athletic and mobile and get our hands on the ball, but also not shirk the hard work.”

The answer is unruffled and clear, and he sums up: “I don’t feel that the old-style enforcer whose job was to hit a few rucks is still there in the modern game. But in terms of the hard responsibility of being a tight five forward, I don’t think anyone in England’s pack hides away from that.”
He could easily have added that the best way to dominate an opponent is, and always has been, to outplay them.
That’s what Launchbury and Wasps will be hoping to do to a Gloucester side whose two meetings over the next fortnight, first in the Amlin and then in ‘The Stinger’ at Twickenham on St George’s Day, will in all likelihood be season-defining.
As things stand Wasps are seventh in the Premiership table and Gloucester eighth, and new developments have raised the stakes higher still with the imminent new European Cup structure said to include an Anglo-French play-off for a place in the top tier cup between the clubs finishing in seventh position in the Premiership and the Top 14.
Launchbury concedes that Wasps lack of consistency this season has been vexing, but he says that the club are geared-up for the final straight.
“We have a massive amount to play for, especially if there is a European play-off. We had a good run of nine wins from 11 in the middle of the season, but like last season we have fallen away a bit in the second half (of the campaign). There are no clear, direct answers. The guys are still really keen for it, but this league is very close. The Worcester game – where we won with a last minute conversion by Andy Goode – shows the fine margins.”
Launchbury says that is why, although Wasps will sweat blood to win the Amlin Cup, they have to keep going on all fronts:
“The Amlin can be very tough. We’ve made a quarter-final in the last two years and lost to Biarritz, and then Leinster at home. With teams dropping down from the Heineken Cup it is a big ask.
“Gloucester this weekend will be a big challenge, but we’ve worked very hard for a home tie, and we should go out there and play with ambition. Home advantage is important – especially when the alternative was Kingsholm.
“We’ve got Gloucester twice over the next fortnight with ‘the Stinger’ to come. They’ve grown massively after a tricky start and have consolidated. The Gloucester forwards acquitted themselves well against the strong Exeter pack last weekend,
scoring a couple of driving maul tries, and I’m sure they’ll come hard at us in that area. But we are excited. We didn’t get the performance we wanted when we beat Worcester, or last weekend against Saracens, but it’s time for us to perform.”
Suggest that part of the reason Wasps blow so hot and cold is the amount of player and coaching traffic coming through the doors of their decidedly old school training facilities in Acton in recent seasons and he accepts that it has not helped.
“There’s been a fair amount of movement, and in an ideal world it wouldn’t be quite as much. But our hand has been forced to a degree by injuries and retirements, and we have been a team in transition in the last few years – but you can see the calibre of side we are making now.”
He acknowledges that another part of the jigsaw is the club owning their own ground: “It is the next step. You understand the importance of having that infrastructure. From what I hear the club are keen to get a stadium, and that will push it forwards. Adams Park is a nice pitch, but having a place you can call home would mean a lot.”
He adds, “The new owner, Derek Richardson, is a breath of fresh air. He’s passionate about the club and about rugby, and he likes to let the players know he’s on board, not just a mystery figure in the background.”
Launchbury reveals his own passion for Wasps, which started when he was cut from the Harlequins Academy.

“I’d like to say there were 12 Premiership clubs in for me, but Wasps were the only ones – so there is a bond. I knew the history of Wasps being a rugby fan, and the players who were there and what they had done.
“When I was released by Quins I thought I would go to university and have to work my way up the hard way, so I’m thankful for that opportunity. I’ve been here four seasons now and I’ve loved being a part of this club.”
However, things have changed radically, with Wasps slipping from being serial champions to serial also-rans in the last six years. So how, having arrived during the transition years – including helping the club to stave off relegation by the skin of their teeth two seasons ago – does he view the changed landscape?
“If one of those guys from the glory years from 2000 to 2008 came back to the club – like Richard Birkett did the other day – they would notice change in both playing and backroom staff. But the ideals of what it is to play for Wasps stay the same. We are very proud of our history, and what those guys did – but we are a new side now and trying to create our own history.
“I came to Wasps midway through the big transition and experienced a fair few directors of rugby in the first couple of years. But now there’s stability with Dai Young as director of rugby and a good leadership group.
“Chris Bell is captain, and James Haskell a very experienced international. He’s got a lot to say, but you know what the club means to him and he makes very good points which are needed. Andy Goode may only have been at the club for one season, but he’s the 10 and so experienced – he knows what it takes to achieve.”
Launchbury says he has also gleaned more from his England experience this season, and can offer more to his club than he did after his rookie international campaign.
“I didn’t adjust as well as I should have coming back to the club, and this time I’m a lot more equipped to add to the mix. The culture at England is fantastic. You can grow a culture, and at Wasps we are definitely growing ours. I’m part of the senior group and I try and bring some of the things I have learned with England back to the club.”
Ask him for examples and he opens up. “The beauty of the England set-up is you feel welcome and part of it from day one – but you also understand that you are not too many bad performances away from being out. That’s key for the whole squad, so while the pack is going well and people are being kind in the Press, we understand that if these performances aren’t driven on, you lose your spot.
“You need competition for places if you want to be the top team in the world. We have kept a pretty solid side and Graham Rowntree is working us hard and trying to make improvements. Now we understand our role in the team – I certainly understand mine.”
To emphasise it Launchbury outlines where he aims to get better.
“I want to improve in the lineout – I’m an option, but I’d like to be involved in it fully. You are constantly improving against the really dominant packs in the contact area. You see the likes of Courtney make these dominant hits which are brilliant for the team – and if I can add a bit of that in my game that would be fantastic.”
If he can add those bits to his game Joe Launchbury could rewrite the manual by being recognized universally as the prototype of a second row forward that is not just new and different, but truly world class.
Wasps take on Gloucester in The Stinger at Twickenham on Saturday,  April 19. Little Mix will be performing, and tickets start at £10 (£1 donation to Sport Relief) from ticketmaster.co.uk/wasps