Wasps' Matt Mullan: 'Start by winning the individual battles'
Thursday 2 April 2015 16:29, UK
Matt Mullan wants his team to focus on winning the individual battles in their Champions Cup quarter-final on Sunday.
Wasps arrive in Toulon on the back of an impressive comeback against Leinster in the final pool match in Coventry. Down 14-6 with less than 20 minutes to play, Wasps fought back to score two tries and snatch a draw that handed them a place in the quarter-finals.
It was loosehead prop Mullan who scored the first of those two tries, but the Wasps forward told Sky Sports the fightback does not give them any added momentum in Toulon.
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“I think we can take confidence from that game,” said Mullan, “Being able to compete in such a tight situation, being able to come back into a game when it was slipping away from us - we can take confidence from that.”
“But it was such a long time ago that I don’t think it counts for much towards this week. This week is stand-alone, it’s a knock-out game.
“Regardless of how well we played in that Leinster game, we’re going to have to be right up there this week.”
Class outfit
Wasps head to France with a formidable task on their hands. Toulon have only lost three European games out of 24 in the last three years, and none of them were at home.
But Mullan says his side is not too concerned about their hosts being labelled as favourites.
“They’ve won the competition two years in a row and they’re trying their best to be the first club to win it three times in a row.
“We know about their squad, we know about the individual players, they’re a class outfit. We probably are underdogs but that might work in our favour if we slip in under the radar slightly.
“It’s a massive occasion for the club - the last time Wasps got there was in 2007. As a player you want to be competing in the business end of competitions. The fact that it’s a knockout game does bring some pressure, but equally people aren’t expecting us to win.”
The England prop says his side will not be struggling for motivation, as that has been provided by the occasion and importance of the game.
“You get a sense of what it means to the club and what it means to the players,” Mullan said, “You don’t need the coaches telling you; you turn up on the first day of the week and everybody’s got their head on, doing the extra bits in training and looking at some extra footage in their own time.
“These are the challenges that as a player you want. When you join teams like Wasps you want to be playing in Europe and you want to be playing in the knockout stages.
“I think you’d be doing the competition a disservice if you weren’t putting yourself up against international players and top-quality opposition.
Formidable
The battle at the Stade Felix Mayol will be felt across the field, but Mullan has indicated it’s the forwards who will need to set the tone if they are to provide an upset.
“They’re big and they’ve got lots of international experience - they’re a formidable pack," he said. "We have come into the game on the back of playing Northampton on Friday, and I think that it was perfect preparation.
“It’s like any game; if you’re struggling up front you know you’re going to be struggling as a team. So we are going to have to try and fight to get a foothold up front and allow our backs to play their game.
“It’s something as a forward pack we’re looking forward to. We’ve got a lot of experience and good players from our own side, so hopefully we can be dominant ourselves.
“On a personal level and a team level it’s about accepting those challenges and trying to produce your best game, hoping that you win those individual battles and that they add up to a team win.”
Watch Toulon v Wasps live on Sky Sports 2 on Saturday from 2.45pm or with a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99
