Young to stick with rotation policy

Wasps rugby director Dai Young is says he is sticking with his squad rotation policy ahead of Friday’s critical Premiership visit to Harlequins.

Young admitted he made an error last year by not rotating his players enough and as a result they produced a jaded performance in
the 34-23 Premiership semi-final defeat to Exeter.

He has, however, also cautioned against the possibility of disrupting the balance and continuity of the side and for this reason does not want to over-rotate.

“You can only rotate guys who you don’t feel are going hurt the performance, so it may be one or two changes,” the 49-year-old told The Coventry Telegraph.

“I made a mistake last year. We were fighting right until the end to get in the top four, then because we weren’t far away from a home draw.

“So I didn’t really rotate for four games, and I felt in the semi-final we looked tired.

“We know we are in the play-offs this year, and I want to make sure that we arrive – I wouldn’t say fresh because guys are never fresh at this stage in the season – but not burnt out.”

Young is hoping number eight Nathan Hughes returns for the Harlequins clash, while fellow number eight Ashley Johnson is expected to make his return against Saracens the following weekend. Fly-half Danny Cipriani is once again eligible for selection but Young insists his big guns are not guaranteed immediate returns to the starting line-up and must 'work their way back in.'

“Cips picked up a groin injury a week before the Worcester game, then by his own admission was probably below par for a couple of games,” Wasps boss said.

“When you have a squad you can rotate, so we tried Jimmy at ten and Kurtley at 12 and that has gone well.

“It is certainly not a case of us saying ‘this is where we are now’ as people earn the right to stay in the team or have to work hard to get back in there.

“For the majority of the season Cips and a number of others kept the jersey because they were playing well, so it is very hard to take it off them.

“We have then made a few changes that have gone well for us, which means people have to work their way back in.”