Young urges defensive improvement

Editor

Wasps director of rugby Dai Young has bemoaned the 'fragile' state of his side's defence despite their six-game unbeaten run.

Young's side might have scored 14 tries in their last three games, but they have also conceded an average of 25 points per game over that period.

This has led to Young describing his defence as 'a bit fragile'.

“We have started to leak too many points now and our defence is looking a bit fragile,” Young told the Telegraph.

"We have conceded 11 tries in our past three games, which is a concern without a doubt.

"Beforehand our defence looked far more aggressive and far more solid, but we seem to be leaking points at the moment.

“Yes, we are scoring tries, but I think we have had games [most recently against Bath] where for large parts we have dominated and should have won more comfortably.

“The law of averages tells you that if you allow teams to score that many points, the results are going to fall the other way."

Wasps have scored 14 tries in that same three-game period with some outstanding attacking performances – largely thanks to the in-form trio of Dan Robson, Christian Wade and Willie le Roux – putting their early season slump behind them to climb to third in the table.

Young however is intent on the side shoring up their defence in order to avoid finding themselves in a shootout on a weekly basis.

Wasps have surged to third in the table after a stuttering beginning to the season, largely thanks to being able to outscore opponents – but Young believes it is a risky game they are playing at and believes it is imperative that they shore up their defence.

"We are working hard on that in training,” admitted Young. “We do not want to be in a position where they score three tries, we score four, because you are going to come unstuck.

“Yes, I want to attack, and we have a good attacking team. But you do not want to have to score 40 points because the opposition are going to score 30.”