Wasps must use Tommy Bell to ring in changes for future, says Kenny Logan

Wasps’ challenge for a top four spot has defied expectations but club legend Kenny Logan insists the focus has to be to find a long-term solution at fly-half.
With five games left this year Wasps find themselves sixth, but just three points off a play-off spot ahead of a potentially decisive home clash with fourth-placed Northampton next Saturday at Adams Park.
This has been done with experienced Welsh pair of Stephen Jones and Nicky Robinson running the show in the No.10 jersey but neither will be playing for the club next season – Jones retiring and joining the coaching staff and Robinson joining Bristol.
In their place come Worcester duo Andy Goode, 32, and Joe Carlisle, 25, but Logan is adamant Wasps need to find the new Alex King among their current crop of top-class youngsters – with Tommy Bell, 20, the leading candidate.
Logan, the former Scotland winger, who racked up more than 100 appearances for Wasps in seven years at the club, told The Rugby Paper: “It’s a great club with a great history so I’m delighted to see them back fighting for Heineken Cup and semi-final places.
“It’s very tight at the top but in the end I think they might fall just short and miss out on a semi-final spot. The defeat to London Irish a few weeks ago might just be the one that comes back to haunt them.
“But the game against Northampton is a huge one, and if they win that, they are still in with a great chance, but I think in the end they’ll finish fifth or sixth but that would  still be great for the club.
“The young guys coming through have been fantastic, people like Christian Wade, Joe Launchbury and Elliot Daly. It’s a shame they are losing Billy Vunipola but on the whole Dai Young has done a great job with the young guys.
“The fly-half role is the interesting one, though, I think Andy Goode is a little bit long in the tooth so I’m not exactly sure about him coming in.
“He’s a very good player and a goal-kicker, which they need, but I’d like to see a young fly-half. You want someone who’ll be there five or six years at least, like we had with Alex King, someone to build a team around. Tommy Bell will really benefit from having Stephen Jones coaching him so hopefully he can be that player.
“Stephen will be a great coach for him. Bell couldn’t really ask for a better man to have to learn from, and Andy Goode will be useful in that respect as well.”
Having come so close to relegation only last May, it has been quite a transformation for Wasps, with their young generation having a huge impact.
Logan maintains the difficulties they faced in beating the drop last season have given the team an added steel, and says if they do manage to sneak into the Premiership semis, they will be a real danger.
He added: “The squad learned so much from everything they went through and I think it’s really helped them. The youngsters got a chance when all those players got injured and they’ve taken it.
“In another situation they might not have had anywhere as near as many games but they have a little more experience now.
“They play some really good rugby, and the pace they have makes them very dangerous. I think they’ve the most bonus points in the league so if they make the semis they can spring a surprise.”
Meanwhile Wasps have signed two No.8s to cover the departing Vunipola for next season, Auckland’s 21-year-old Fijian Nathan Hughes, and Rotherham’s Rory Pitman, 23.
PAUL EDDISON