Dai Young confident Wasps can deal with new 'favourite' tag in Europe following Zebra win - The Coventry Observer

Dai Young confident Wasps can deal with new 'favourite' tag in Europe following Zebra win

Coventry Editorial 18th Oct, 2016 Updated: 28th Oct, 2016   0

DAI Young is confident his side can adjust from being underdogs to favourites on the European stage after thumping Zebra 84-14 in their Pool 2 opener on Saturday.

Wasps made easy work of their Italian opponents at the Ricoh Arena by scoring 12 tries in what was a record breaking score in Europe for the club.

Both Rob Miller and Joe Simpson bagged two tries each while Danny Cipriani produced an almost immaculate kicking display with his boot by adding points from five of his six conversions.

“I think we are a very good team and when we are playing at our best, with tempo, we’re a very tough team to beat,” said Young.




“We know what teams are going to try and achieve, so it is up to us to try to really dominate that area. We also know that if we’re not at our best, other teams will beat us so it’s about going out and doing ourselves justice.

“We’ve now lost that underdog tag and we know there are some big games on the horizon. For us we just need to worry about ourselves, while always being respectful of the opposition. We need to set our own standards and work week-to-week to improve individually and collectively.”


Despite the record breaking win, which was Wasps’ biggest win in the Champions or Heineken Cup since the 71-5 win in Treviso ten years ago, Young still found areas for improvement.

“We were a little bit sloppy for the two tries we conceded, but we were probably forcing it a little bit during the first half.

“Our discipline wasn’t fantastic and that poor discipline kept Zebre in the game really as it gave them field-position.

“So that is going to be a big message going forward. We’ll have a look at this performance, it wasn’t perfect, but we were pleased with it and we know there are areas that we are going to have to improve on for next week.”

Next up in Pool 2 for Wasps is a trip to France this Sunday as they prepare for Toulouse.

“It’s going to be a big challenge next week but one that we are looking forward to,” Young added.

“That is the challenge that we now want, challenges that we run into, not away from. We want to go into the next few games with lots of confidence and the result will certainly help to build that confidence.”

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