Contracts and injuries give Wasps food for thought

HEINEKEN CUP NEWS:IT COULD an incentive to play better rugby but the lingering doubt of what shirt they may be wearing next year, or, what contract they are able to nail down could also have a marked effect on Wasps' performance this weekend as Leinster travel to Twickenham to try to secure a Heineken Cup quarter-final spot.

Of course at the back of their minds, Wasps, Sale, Munster and Leinster are aware that qualification for the knockout stages will guarantee a bigger slice of the Heineken Cup cake.

A number of Wasps top players have not yet finalised their contracts for next season and go into their round-four pool match against the Dublin side amid growing speculation that elite European clubs are throwing money their way in a bid to lure them away from the English champions.

Top of that speculation is that 23-year-old backrow James Haskell is being heavily courted by top Welsh side Ospreys. Premiership rivals Sale are also reported to be interested as are Toulouse, who are not handcuffed by the salary cap with which English clubs are curtailed.

England outhalf Danny Ciprani, Riki Flutey and Tom Rees are also three high-profile players that are not yet tied in to Wasps for next season following the take-it-or-leave-it offer that club owner Steve Hayes put on the table to 19 of his players prior to Christmas and who will be out of contract at the end of the season. Seven are understood to have subsequently signed new deals, but the 12 that delayed have effectively become free agents from the beginning of this month.

Guinness Premiership owners are meeting tomorrow to discuss reducing the salary cap in England from €4.6 million to €3.8 million. The idea is to top the size of club squads at between 35 and 40 players, with 38 the number most likely to win approval. If such a move were in place now, the consequences could be serious for both players and clubs.

Munster’s opposition this week, Sale, have a squad that comes within the 38-player quota but Wasps may have to lose four players if the owners agree to such a cap.

Wasps also continue to fight against injury concerns that have knocked out several big names from the Leinster meeting, although a couple of heavy hitters are back in harness. Josh Lewsey, who sustained a hamstring injury in the clash with Sale a couple of weeks ago, was selected to start on the bench last weekend in their cancelled match with Bath. The game, however, was postponed because of a frozen pitch.

Paul Sacky, who had been told to take a rest with an ankle injury by the England management prior to last week, was included in the starting side, indicating that there is no problem with his fitness for what is a make-or-break match for the London side. The England strike runner was included on the Wasps wing.

But there was still no sign of England backrow Joe Worsley, Simon Shaw, Tom Palmer, Tom Rees or Raphael Ibanez.

Shaw, who suffered a “debridement” (removal of dead tissue from a would) of his elbow, was expected to resume full training this week. Out for certain, however, is Tom Rees and Tom Palmer.

Sale coach Philippe Saint-Andre, who will leave the club at the end of the season, has said that nothing less than a win at Thomond Park will allow his side achieve this year’s ambitions. “Now we would like to go further and qualify for the quarter-finals and then be fully satisfied with our progress,” he said. “And to achieve that goal we have to win our next two games and the first of those will be the most difficult as we go to Limerick to face Munster, the European Champions.”