Wasps scrum-half Joe Simpson has admitted his shock at the potential move of team-mate Christian Wade to the NFL from the Premiership side.
Simpson, talking to Planet Rugby following the club’s 35-all draw with Bath in the Champions Cup, revealed he was rocked by the Wade story.
“It took everyone by shock,” he said. “Obviously we don’t know the full details so we wait to see what happens but all I can say is I love Wadey, he’s my brother and I’ve known him since he was 18. I’ve got immense respect for him and whatever happens we’ll be staying friends.”
Like Wade, Simpson has won one England cap, the scrum-half having since endured a difficult few campaigns at Wasps as he struggled for minutes.
He was however excellent against Bath over the weekend, scoring one try and setting up an incredible four others in a showing that caught the eye. On his personal performance, Simpson admitted he was delighted and now wants to put recent frustrations behind him in the upcoming months.
“It has been a frustrating couple of years. I feel like I haven’t done myself justice and there’s been a few things that have been working against me. But it’s about controlling the controllables. I can only control my emotional state,” the 30-year-old Wasps veteran explained.
“I felt like I deserved more of a chance than I’ve been given and I found that extremely frustrating so it’s been pleasing to get two good performances (against Leinster and Bath) under my belt. I think I did myself justice. I just want to play rugby, enjoy myself, and play the highest standard of rugby possible with my friends. Over the last couple of years, for whatever reason, my form hasn’t been at that level.”
Simpson is doing that alongside a new fly-half this season following the departure of Danny Cipriani, with Lima Sopoaga now the number 10. When asked to discuss the differences between the English maestro and former All Black, the scrum-half urged patience with Sopoaga’s game.
“Cips is a bit more abusive I guess,” he said jokingly. “If you look at the amount of training sessions Lima has had, you can’t have so few and come in (at a new club) and really take control with players’ running lines and so on. It’s going to take a while for him to bed in and we know that. When you’re changing 10s and nines it takes a while to settle. It’s going to be a period of change. We’re learning from him.”
He added: “They are two contrasting 10s, slightly different in the way they approach a game and slightly different in the way they play the game, so it is about us adapting to Lima and him adapting to us and that is going to take some time. I think that this block of taking a step back and relaxing (during the opening rounds of the Premiership Rugby Cup) but also working hard will get us singing off the same hymn sheet.”
Quotes from Sam Meade