Nick Cain column: Joe Lauchbury is fixing a steely gaze on his new challenges

Joe Launchbury knows what it is like to be the young, blue-eyed boy of the England pack. The Wasps lock also has painful first-hand experience of what it is like to be gazumped. That's because this season Launchbury was not only supplanted by George Kruis and  Maro Itoje in the England Grand Slam-winning side, but also – to make the wounds even deeper – he was upstaged by the Saracens dynamic duo in the European Cup semi-final at the Madejski last weekend.
That 24-17 defeat is a jarring reminder to the 25-year-old Wasp of just how tough life can be at the top, but Launchbury and his mates have no time to contemplate the chance that has just gone west. Instead, they have to turn their attention immediately to their trip to Exeter's Sandy Park stronghold, and their mission today of trying to prize Premiership glory from the ashes of European defeat.
Wasps have to win if they want to secure home advantage at the Ricoh for the semi-final play-offs on May 22/23 and avoid returning to Sandy Park, which is fast becoming one of the most forbidding grounds in the Premiership.
Launchbury has plenty of experience of how quickly fortunes can change in the pro game. He took the international stage by storm in his debut season for England in 2012, including a conspicuous performance in the win over New Zealand, in much the same way as Itoje and Kruis did in the recent Six Nations triumph.
After playing in 22 of 25 Tests from 2012 to the summer tour of New Zealand in 2014 ‘Big Joe' had become such a regular fixture in the England line-up – usually alongside Courtney Lawes – that they were touted as the England second-row pairing through to the 2019 World Cup.
Although the 2015 World Cup pool exit made those plans seem premature – as did the touting of Launchbury as England's new captain – he succeeded in retaining his place at lock for the first game of the Eddie Jones reign as coach against Scotland in Edinburgh.
However, having come off the bench in Rome against Italy, a hamstring injury meant that he left the door ajar for Itoje against Ireland. What Launchbury probably did not expect was that the 21-year-old Saracen would rip the door off its hinges and storm down the pitch with it under his arm.
Itoje delivered three exceptional performances in succession, consigning Launchbury to just two minutes off the bench (for Kruis against Wales) in the run-in to the Slam. He was on the bench again in the decisive game in Paris, and not getting on the field against France must have hurt, especially after so many missed title shots under Stuart Lancaster.
Launchbury says the headlines for the new kids on the block are familiar:  “The same happened to me when I first came in. George and Maro are playing well and are playing in a Saracens team that is winning, which helps. They put some pressure on us at the set piece. We lost three lineouts, they lost one, but it was disappointing because they were in key areas.”
Yet, there were no obvious signs of angst at Acton in midweek as Launchbury contemplated the sharp end of the season in the wake of a serious setback for the club. He is on message about Wasps bouncing back instantly from a psychologically-sapping defeat to win at Exeter against a side that has already proved to be a formidable obstacle to their ambitions this season.
However, as Launchbury talks about Wasps getting back up and dusting themselves down for the big Premiership title push, his guard slips a little, hinting at the damage done by European exit – and, despite a solid match, his dismay at being outshone by Itoje.
“We have still got a lot to pay for but the disappointment of losing a European semi-final will always be there. In those games you always wish and hope that you are going to put your best game out there and give it your all. I think in parts we did, but we made too many mistakes, which obviously put us under a huge amount of strain and led to some of their tries.”
He adds: “It's hard. We've waited six years for a game like that. I've been at this club a long time. It was awesome to be playing in that sort of level of game. We want to get there again soon and do what Saracens do and learn from the hurt of it.”
The reality is that if Wasps are going to win the Premiership title, capitalising on the brilliant attacking style they have shown throughout the season, then Launchbury and the Wasps pack need to do their learning with fibre-optic speed. They have to be galvanised by the hurt here and now, or they will be left as also-rans with the consolation of a top four finish.
After saying initially that he is “extremely proud” of achieving the top four finish demarcated for this season by Wasps rugby director Dai Young, Launchbury conceded that the squad have no excuses if they fail to rise to the occasion. “It is something we have to focus on because sometimes that can creep into organisations when you feel that all you want to do is improve…”
Acknowledging the outstanding short-stay contributions this season of veteran Wallaby flanker George Smith and All Black wing Charles Piutau, he added: “Some guys are moving on, so we want to do it for this group of players and really put our all into this. We have worked extremely hard to get where we have got to – and to let it slip would be a real shame.”
Wasps fans will be thankful that their side have previous form against the Chiefs when it comes to being galvanised. The Devon side smashed the Wasps forward ramparts to smithereens in a league fixture at the Ricoh in December with four tries from driving mauls, and also buckled them in the epic European Cup quarter-final on the same ground three weeks ago. Then came the comeback, with Launchbury and company picking themselves up off the canvas to deliver a last second knock-out when Charles Piutau's try was converted by Jimmy Gopperth.
Launchbury knows that where Saracens sniffed out a Wasps weakness against the driving lineout and exploited it ruthlessly, they were only following in Exeter's footsteps. He also knows that it is his job to repair the damage so that Wasps are not only able to repel the Exeter drive, but are disruptive in the air and on the ground on the Chiefs throw. If Wasps are also failsafe on their own lineout ball and turn the tables with tank-like drives of their own, they will be hard to hold.
However, it is a big ‘if'. Against Saracens, the Wasps lineout had the look of a holding operation which considered success to be winning their own throw rather than using it to launch an attacking siege machine, which is what Itoje and Kruis did for the opposition.
Launchbury acknowledges that the 25 metre driving maul penalty try Wasps conceded late in the second-half was an embarrassment, despite Wasps being a forward down with replacement prop Simon McIntyre in the sin-bin. He also accepts Exeter will come at them full steam in the same way.
“That is the biggest disappointment. It has been a theme for the year – we have conceded a few too many driving lineouts and that one is disappointing for sure. Teams have done it all year against us. They kick to the corner a lot and put pressure on the lineout, and pressure from that driving maul. Exeter scored four tries doing that at the Ricoh, and we took that away from them in the (European Cup) quarter-final a few weeks back. It is a huge part of their game. That and the pick-and-go are two areas they will 100 per cent target… guys like Thomas Waldrom picking and going.”
Launchbury says Exeter lull opponents into a false sense of security with multi-phase retention in the middle of the pitch, aimed at winning penalties which they then kick to the corner. However, once inside the 22, they use driving lineouts and pick-and-goes to apply relentless pressure. The remedy, according to the Wasps lock, is not to give away penalties.
“It starts with discipline and then limiting the amount of time they can get into our 22. There are only a certain amount of times you can stop it. If they get 8, 9, 10 (driving maul) chances in a game they are going to score one of them, so discipline has to be spot-on. When we get it right and defend the maul correctly – and we get the right numbers in – we normally stop them.”
Launchbury also concedes that with Wasps main jumper Kearnan Myall still out with a knee injury, he has to shoulder greater responsibility for the lineout against the Chiefs.
Asked if it's an area he's happy with, he responds: “I'm never going to sit here and say that any part of my game doesn't need progress – because every player can look for progress everywhere. The lineout is always going to be a focus of mine, it has been all my career, and it probably will be for years to come. I'm working extremely hard
at it, it's something where I feel there's been improvement, and hopefully there will be more improvement to come.”
If Wasps want a shot at the Premiership title they are going to need plenty of that sort of offensive defence at Sandy Park, along with some of those Launchbury lineout gains.