Wasps set to break new ground

 

Wasps will welcome London Irish to the Ricoh area on Sunday with an expected £575,000 coming from ticket sales alone. This massive cash injection is what is needed to attract world-class players.

 

Joe Launchbury, Wasps’ highly regarded lock, has already been persuaded to commit to the club, and they are understood to have secured the services of the New Zealand-born Leinster flyhalf Jimmy Gopperth for next season.

 

Springbok Ashley Johnson has been a part of the Wasps set up since he moved from the Cheetahs in 2012, and has been highly successful for them.

 

“Everyone now realises that we are in the market for top-quality international players, whereas before we could not compete for them,” Dai Young, the Director of Rugby. told The Telegraph

 

“Teams are built, they can’t just be bought, but it helps if you can buy in some stardust to sprinkle over solid foundations.

 

"This is a clear signal now that the club is moving in the right direction and, yes, there is that bit of extra pressure now to make sure we deliver on the field.”

 

Wasps have had a torrid financial past with the bank account for the London team sitting at £65.16 just two years ago – with over £1million demanded from Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs.

 

From paupers to princes, Wasps can face the future with real confidence for the first time in several years, a drawcard in their own right.

 

“It is a remarkable turnaround and we want this to be start of something special,” said Nick Eastwood, the Wasps Chief Executive.

 

“I did question my sanity. And yet here we are, about to stage one of the most successful club games ever held.It’s quite a story.”

 

A story with significantly upbeat ramifications for the club.

 

Christian Wade, the wing who is on the verge of a recall after a spell injured, remembers players not being paid and such an air of uncertainty around the club he had joined from school that he wondered whether he would stay.

 

“It was tough for those who didn’t get paid and there was going to be a backlash,” said Wade.

 

“We were all worrying about what was going to happen. Are we moving or are we even going to have a club next year? Do I need to move clubs? All that is gone and there is a massive sigh of relief all round.

 

"We have had some down times here. It is great to know we are financially stable. This stadium, and the facilities, would be a dream for any player.”

 

Wasps are scouting various sites in and around Coventry to build a state-of-the-art training facility ahead of their complete relocation to the area in 18 months’ time.

 

The club had been running at losses of £4million a year and were spared bankruptcy only by the investment of their new owner, Irish businessman, Derek Richardson, who came on board two years ago and has bankrolled the £20million buy-out of the Ricoh Arena.

 

Eastwood expects that figure to rise to £21million, making Wasps responsible for one of the biggest turnovers in world club rugby.

 

Wasps are aware that Sunday’s match holds great curiosity value and that the trick will be for them to come near to repeating it over the coming months.