Flying Joe Simpson eager to exploit gap in the No.9s market

Joe Simpson knows he has it all to do to claim a place in England's World Cup squad.
But the increasingly authoritative Wasps scrum-half believes his current rich vein of form merits attention from red rose boss Stuart Lancaster.
Simpson, a driving force behind an impressive Wasps revival, has just a single England cap to his name – against Georgia at the 2011 World Cup.
Ben Youngs, Danny Care, Richard Wigglesworth and Lee Dickson lie ahead of him in England's pecking order. But Simpson has left no stone unturned, even hiring 2003 World Cup-winning scrum-half Kyran Bracken as a personal coach.
Simpson, 26, told The Rugby Paper: “I'd love to push for those England spots and feel I'm the best equipped all-round player I've been in my career.
“When I first came on the scene the Premiership was completely different; there were gaps and I broke into Wasps on flair alone.
“But I've shored up my kicking and that and my passing are now my main strengths. That's down to spending days off working in parks and staying on after training. I've put a lot of work in because as a nine those things have to be world-class.
“A couple of years ago I had Kyran Bracken come in and he's helped me a lot. I sought him out and he was magnificent in taking my skills to the next level. We keep in touch and I feel my leadership is growing and that I'm really improving.
“Those England spots are pretty sewn down and they know their favourite three or four, but it's about putting myself in a position so that if there's an injury or any loss of form, I'm playing well enough to warrant a place in that squad.
“Stuart knows me. I've been in his squads and played at Saxons level. I feel I can not only compete but can offer something different to the other nines with my broken field running and speeding up of the game.
“That's where I want my niche to be and I'm giving it my best shot.”
Simpson's cause will be enhanced if Wasps can maintain their drive towards the top four.
A new stadium in Coventry and fresh outlook has lent credence to suggestions Wasps could soon recreate the glory days of the Noughties.
Says Simpson: “We'd love to challenge for silverware and the great thing about the Premiership is any of the top eight can make the play-offs.
“We would like to think our squad is good enough to compete with the best and people saw that when we turned over Northampton and Bath.
“We need to make sure our away performances match our home ones, but yes, on our day we can beat anyone and we firmly believe in ourselves.”
As for creating a dynasty to match the one achieved by Lawrence Dallaglio and Co, Simpson cautions: “We'd be getting ahead of ourselves there because the nature competition has changed since the great Wasps team was in its pomp.
“That Wasps team had the strongest XV of any in the Premiership and they were able to physically dominate teams, whereas if we come up against a Saracens, Northampton, Bath or Leicester now, no team can physically dominate.
“It's got to be brains AND brawn now, so the runs teams seemed to get on are going to be rarer and rarer. We just need to concentrate on putting ourselves in a position where we can challenge for a place in the top four and some silverware.
“Maybe it's a season early, who knows, but that is definitely our aim.”
Dallaglio is long retired, but Simpson believes Wasps have another legendary captain in the making in the shape of the forceful James Haskell.
Of his influential colleague, Simpson opines: “The captaincy has changed him.
“We all know what ‘Hask' is like and around the club he's a very loud, vocal member of the team. Some people like that, some people don't, but everyone at Wasps fully respects him and is appreciative of how he's stepped up.
“There have been big shoes to fill after ‘Lol' captained the side for so long in the past and there's no one better than Hask to know the talents Lawrence had.
“He picked up a lot from Lol and is a similar personality – very confident, very loud and a fantastic rugby player at the end of the day.
“Haskell has been there or thereabouts as the best back row in the Premiership for the last 18 months. Last season he was on fire for us and this season he's even better – I'm sure he'll be pushing for England's World Cup starting spots.
“He's desperate to get that England jersey back on and nobody works harder. He's a great role model for every young player coming through and hopefully he can win a few trophies for club and country because he deserves it.”
As far as Premiership back row units are concerned, none is performing better than the Wasps trio of Haskell, Nathan Hughes and Ashley Johnson.
Simpson adds: “Size-wise, flair-wise, tackling-wise and carrying-wise we've pretty much got everything in our back-row, and to think we have Sam Jones as well, who I think is destined to be one of the young stars of English rugby.
“I'd say our whole squad's improved this season and although we're definitely not the finished article, we are getting better. If you look at how far we've come since our near relegation season in 2012, Wasps are going in the right direction.
“If we manage to avoid slip-ups, we'll be in a very strong position this season.”
NEALE HARVEY