Academy enjoy top class coaching

Our CDO Dave Larham reports

Several London Wasps Academy members recently enjoyed a special opportunity to learn from a couple of great England rugby minds, as National Academy coaches Dorien West and Mike Friday have been out to offer some private tutoring.

Former England hooker and World Cup winner West, who is responsible for developing future hookers in his role with the National Academy, visited three London Wasps youngsters last Wednesday and worked with them on various skills required for the position.

During the session, the three players - Adam Janowski (Whitgift School), Tom Lindsay (Mill Hill School), and Arthur Ellis (St. Benedict's School) - worked with West on line-out throwing techniques, psychology, strength exercises, and general technique.

The following day, London Wasps Assistant Academy Manager, Alun Powell and England Sevens coach, Mike Friday paid a visit to St. Benedict's for a skills session with Joe Simpson, a 17 year-old Academy scrum-half and member of the Junior National Academy.

For Simpson, a London Wasps Academy member since 2002, the session was a chance to receive individual coaching from former London Wasps scrum-half Friday, who currently doubles as a member of the National Academy coaching staff and coach of the England Sevens squad.

"It was a great experience to have someone of Mike's calibre come out and work with me," said Simpson. "He's so knowledgeable about the areas where I need the most work."

Friday, a specialist in the scrum-half position, spent most of the session working on technique and body control with Simpson, regularly asking the England Under 18 for feedback as they worked through their drills.

Simpson, one of ten players currently listed within the Junior National Academy, a group composed of talented 15 to 19 year-old rugby players from across the country, has been promoted this season to join National Academy Director Brian Ashton's squad for training at Bath University for two weeks in August, with further sessions throughout the year.

Two other talented young London Wasps Academy players - centre Dominic Waldouck (Latymer Upper School) and fly half Daniel Cipriani (Whitgift School) - are also among the ten-player Junior National Academy group.

London Wasps Academy is designed to help develop players to professional and international standard. For a player like Simpson, this means three or four weekly sessions with London Wasps Academy at Twyford Avenue. These sessions vary, as some will involve strength and conditioning training while others are core skill and positional training sessions.
Assistant Academy Manager Powell has a chance to see the benefits of the Academy programme on a daily basis and understands the importance of having the National Academy coaches involved. "It's a fantastic resource to have specialist individual coaches like Dorien West and Mike Friday supporting and enhancing the skills the players have already developed with the London Wasps Academy and their school teams," he said.

The value of the Academy is on the field in the shape of a large part of the London Wasps 1st XV squad, where Lawrence Dallaglio, Josh Lewsey, Joe Worsley and a many more of the current London Wasps stars count themselves amongst the London Wasps Academy alumni. The next batch of young talent seems to be well on its way.