10:00am Thursday 28th March 2013
By Alan Feldberg
WASPS are feeling the squeeze in the mad dash for Europe, but director of rugby Dai Young has flicked away the pressure like fluff on his suit.
Losing to Northampton last weekend means Wasps have little margin for error going into games with Saracens tomorrow and Leicester in two weeks.
But Young is unperturbed, and told his players to adopt the same attitude.
He said: “People talk about pressure. I don’t see this as pressure.
“Pressure was last season, worrying about relegation and whether we all had jobs and could pay the wages. That’s pressure.
“This is a different type of challenge.
“To get into the top six, we’d have been absolutely thrilled with that at the start of the year. I don’t think many people would have thought we could have achieved that.
“So we’re in a position to do better than expected and with four games left it’s in our hands.
“What I’ve said to the players is don’t let this ‘pressure’ weigh you down.
“Go out and play. You’ve done well to get where you are and there is no reason why we can’t cement ourselves in there.
“There is no better way than beating one of the top teams this weekend.”
But if Wasps found it hard going against Northampton last weekend, they know the bar will be raised again on Saturday.
Saracens are every bit as brutish up front as the Saints, and now they have a Plan B with their backs starting to influence games too.
And then there is Leicester at Welford Road. When Wasps last won there we were being told there was no such thing as boom and bust.
Young said: “These fixtures have been on the horizon for a while and I always felt it was going to be a tough period for us and that when we came out of it we’d know where we are.
“It’s all about now and trying to stay in this top six.
“Every team has got tough games but if we can go out and get a result at the weekend it puts us in a good position for the last three games.
“If we can end the season up in Manchester [against Sale] and finish in the top six we’ll have had an excellent season.”
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