Friday, 18 April 2014

Playing cricket has really helped my rugby, says Joe Launchbury as career ...


It is most obvious when Launchbury is hoisted high in the air to receive

restarts. “I would say that is one of the hardest skills in rugby, and

especially one of the hardest for a forward,” he says.



“When you catch a normal high ball as a full-back you can choose the flight of

the ball and get underneath it, whereas as a forward on a pod, you obviously

have to choose very early where it is going to land. Once you are lifted,

you can’t really move.”



And Launchbury is very good at it, too, although there was a moment at the

start of England’s opening RBS Six

Nations
match in Paris when he soared high but could not make the

catch. Behind him, poor Jack Nowell was taken by surprise and knocked on

with his first touch in international rugby.



“That was my fault,” Launchbury admits. “Obviously it’s his role to sweep in

behind but I should have taken the ball.”



It is a rare moment of regret for Launchbury from a tournament in which he

excelled. The only other moment really was the interception try he gifted to Italy’s

Leonardo Sarto late in the final match as England pressed to increase their

points difference.



“That was disappointing,” he says. “We were probably chasing the game a bit

too hard and nine times out of 10 I would never have thrown the pass. Mako

[Vunipola] was calling for the ball nice and loud on the outside, and he

apologised afterwards, saying he was too keen.”



You live by the sword, and you die by the sword, as coach Stuart Lancaster

said afterwards. The interception came in the wide channel in which

Launchbury did so much fine work during the championship. Who can forget the

game-saving tap tackle on Ireland’s Dave Kearney at Twickenham?



We are talking at a sun-blessed Twickenham as Launchbury prepares for

Saturday’s match – ‘The Stinger’ – there for Wasps against Gloucester, and

Launchbury gazes out at the pristine turf with a fond memory of that

incident and many others this season.



“It’s not something a second row would normally do but I was in the right

place at the right time,” he says modestly. “It’s probably my only tap

tackle. It was the end of a very tough Test match. We were all pretty tired.”



Launchbury mentions there about doing unusual work for a second row, and it is

a familiar theme when assessing his play. He just does not look like a

second row for a start.



Yes, he may be 6ft 6in, but he is only 18st 2lb, and, although currently

sporting a scar under his left eye, he is almost baby-faced.



But the game has changed. Launchbury is the epitome of the modern-day second

row isn’t he? He laughs. It is a frequently asked question.



“I don’t ever want to be known as someone who can’t do the old school-type

tight-five work,” he replies. “But I do really enjoy the way, especially the

England pack, are going in terms of wanting to use the ball effectively and

be athletic around the pitch.”



Indeed Launchbury quite enjoys impersonating an openside flanker. Before Wales

played England, the British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton admitted

that, in reviewing England’s victory over Ireland, he had been astounded by

the brilliance of Launchbury over the ball. “Three open-field turnovers!”

Warburton exclaimed.



“It is something the whole team has worked on very hard with Graham Rowntree

[forwards coach],” Launchbury says. “It is a decision-making thing as much

as anything. I don’t think you should necessarily go looking for it. Luckily

in that Ireland game, a few fell right in front of me and I was kind of

there at the right place to make the decision.”



Launchbury is being far too modest again. The truth is that, were a Lions side

being picked now, he and Courtney Lawes would undoubtedly make up the

second-row pairing. But it has been back to the day job of late. And now

‘The Stinger’ match, a rebranding of Wasps’ former St George’s Day match at

HQ that has not taken place for two years.



A humdrum-looking fixture between two misfiring sides (Wasps eighth and

Gloucester ninth) is given life by the chase for seventh place in the Aviva

Premiership and therefore a play-off spot for next season’s new European

Rugby Champions Cup.



“It is a massive game,” Launchbury says. “The seventh place play-off is now a

massive goal for us. It’s an achievable goal. And hopefully we can attract

some new fans who have not seen us play before. It’s a great place to play,

and a great pitch. Hopefully we will do it justice.”



Launchbury will, we know that much. Whether Wasps will is a different matter.


Article source: http://www.espnscrum.com/scotland/rugby/story/215115.html


Playing cricket has really helped my rugby, says Joe Launchbury as career ...

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