Wasps vs Worcester Warriors match report: Launchbury concussion worry takes shine off Wasps’ revival
Wasps 32 Worcester Warriors 22
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Your support makes all the difference.Wasps rugby director Dai Young was left with injury concerns over Joe Launchbury after the England lock was taken off in a dazed condition during yesterday’s Premiership win over Worcester.
Launchbury suffered two blows to the head in the 32-22 triumph at the Ricoh Arena, which will give England head coach Eddie Jones some cause for worry ahead of his squad announcement for this season’s Six Nations Championship on Wednesday.
Young said: “He’s taken a nasty head knock, but he’s up and about. He’s talking and appears to be fine, but will have to go through the relevant protocols. It could take one or six weeks, it’s impossible to tell at this stage.”
The afternoon could have been a whole lot worse for the home side as faultless kicking from Andy Symonds had threatened to earn Warriors a shock win. He kicked five penalties and converted an interception try from Cooper Vuna.
Lethargic Wasps trailed 22-13 with 12 minutes to go but tries from replacement Guy Thompson, Frank Halai and Sailosi Tagicakibau broke Worcester’s hearts and sent them back to Sixways without even a bonus point.
Kearnan Myall had scored Wasps’ first try, with Jimmy Gopperth converting three of the tries and adding two penalties.
Young said: “We got out of jail as, with eight minutes to go, a betting man would have clearly put money on them. I’m frustrated with our lack of accuracy as we had lots of possession but we didn’t create enough and I’m pleased we didn’t give up.
“I still expect to see Launchbury, Elliot Daly, Joe Simpson, Matt Mullan and James Haskell selected in the England squad.”
Haskell , the Wasps captain, confirmed he is keen to be included in Jones’ plans. “I want to play for England, it’s the reason I get up in the morning and put my body through hell,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything from the coach but I believe my form is good.
“We made life difficult for ourselves today as we weren’t ruthless enough. It was nerve-racking but I had faith in the boys.”
Worcester director of rugby Dean Ryan was again frustrated by his side’s failure to close out the game. He said: “We still haven’t got the experience to get us over the line. At the end our kicking game wasn’t accurate enough.
“They got more and more frustrated as we had a limited game plan and we came very close.
“We were stripped of a number of players and had to play a third choice fly-half, so we kept it simple, but it was another opportunity missed.”
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