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London Wasps director of rugby Dai Young talks to ERC TV following his side's victory over Bayonne in the Amlin Challenge Cup on Thursday evening - 16/12/2011 09:23
Wasps boss Dai Young cannot wait to finally lead the club into a European Rugby Champions Cup campaign.
The Aviva Premiership club make their return to top-tier European competition against Leinster at the RDS on Sunday when they kick off their Pool 2 campaign.
It ends a three-season absence from the Champions Cup and Young is delighted to have guided the two-time winners back into the competition.
He said: “Obviously when I was with the Cardiff Blues the Champions Cup was a regular part of my preparations for a season and when I came to Wasps my goal was to get us back to that level.
“We have not been in it for a couple of years and it is good for us to be back.We had to work hard to get here, we did brilliantly to beat Stade Francais in both legs of the play-off at the end of last season and I know everyone at the club is desperate to make the most of this opportunity.
“We probably could not have been handed a much tougher start than going to a side with a rich European pedigree who have won the tournament three times.
“There is always a passionate full house there, and if you don’t turn up then you can find yourself in trouble.”
Wasps’ hopes of picking up a notable scalp on the road are helped by Leinster’s long injury list.
The likes of Sean O’Brien, Cian Healy, Marty Moore, Dave Kearney and Luke Fitzgerland are all sidelined for the Irish province, who also lost the talismanic presence of Brian O’Driscoll to retirement in the summer.
Wasps, meanwhile have a largely clean bill of health, with England lock Joe Launchbury back after being involved in a car accident which saw him miss the Premiership win over Bath.
Leinster coach Matt O’Connor is all too aware of the quality their opponents possess.
He said: “They've got some huge threats on the field. They've got some unbelievable finishers. They have got a very, very dangerous back row.
“Joe Simpson is a threat with the ball. Andy Goode kicks all his goals and puts them in the right area. They are pretty well balanced to be fair.
“We are going to be relying on making sure that we are really accurate. You can't afford to kick poorly. You can't afford to turn over the ball and give them unstructured opportunities because if they do, they are very dangerous.”
Les cinq meilleurs essais: Journée 1 de l'European Rugby Champions Cup - 24/10/2014 13:53
Darragh Fanning marked his European debut for Leinster with two tries that helped the three-time champions to come from behind to beat Wasps 25-20.
The Aviva Premiership side came to Dublin sniffing an upset and used the wind in the first half to great effect as they marched into a 20-11 interval lead. The only question at the break was would it be enough?
Ian Madigan gave Leinser the lead with a fifth minute penalty and then Andy Goode replied with two kicks of his own. Then came the first try of the game as Wasps centre Alapati Leiua intercepted a home back line move on his 22 and sped all the way to the line for a try which Goode improved.
Leinster were quick to reply with the first of Fanning’s tries. Madigan exploited the space in behind Christian Wade on the narrow side of a ruck on the 10 Wasps’ 10 metre line and Fanning sped onto the ball before claiming the try.
Dai Young’s side certainly came to play and hit Leinster with a try right out of the top drawer when Christian Wade went round Madigan, sped away from Fanning before diving over in the right corner for an amazing score.
Goode added the touchline conversion, but Madigan hauled back three points on the stroke of half-time to give his side some extra impetus.
The second half was played in the rain as well as the wind and Leinster were forced to dig deep to haul themselves back into the game. Skipper Jamie Heaslip led by example, but it was Fanning’s second try that made the difference and sparked the fightback on 51 minutes.
Madigan added the extras and all of a sudden the gap was cut to two points. The blue tide kept moving upfield and back row man Dominic Ryan drove over the line from five metres out for a try which was eventually confirmed by TMO Derek Bevan after a lengthy inspection.
Madigan had no problem with the conversion and moving into the final quarter the home side were 25-20 ahead. They went in search of the bonus point try, but were happy in the end just to have turned around the scoreboard after Wasps’ great first-half performance.
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