Goode ready to lead revival of youthful Wasps
LONDON Wasps summer signing Andy Goode insists his decision to move to Adams Park was a no-brainer and is confident he can help return the club to the upper reaches of the Aviva Premiership.
The experienced fly-half, who scored 224 points for Worcester Warriors last year, is among 16 additions to a squad that slipped from fourth to eighth, after eight consecutive defeats, at the end of last season.
And the 33-year-old, set to make his debut in next month’s curtain-raising London double-header at Twickenham, believes Wasps are well equipped to improve on last term.
“I’m excited to be at Wasps. One door closes and another door opens and I was delighted as soon as Dai [Young, Wasps coach] got in touch,” he said.
“There’s talent within the Wasps squad and the backs that I’ve got at my disposal are pretty exciting, so it was a fairly easy decision. There’s a great buzz around the team and a lot of hope for the season to come.”
Goode admits Wasps have a young squad but believes budding England stars Christian Wade, Joe Launchbury and Elliot Daly will have benefited hugely from their battle at the bottom of the league.
“The youngsters in the squad are now a year more experienced,” he added. “Two years ago there was the battle of relegation but Launchbury is now an England regular and Christian Wade is a British Lion.
“It’s a very young squad and these young guys make me feel old and young in the same breath. Hopefully I can temper the young guys a bit when they want to run around and play everything. That’s a great enthusiasm to have but there’s also the knowledge of when is the right time to do it.”
London Wasps return to Aviva Premiership Rugby action against Harlequins at the London Double Header at Twickenham on 7 September. Tickets from ticketmaster.co.uk