Miles Harrison looks at the growing reputation of Christian Wade as Wasps travel up to Leicester.
Miles previews Wasps and Leicester's weekend meeting
With their European dreams over, Leicester and Wasps will turn all their attention on the Premiership as they prepare to meet on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
Leicester, currently second in the table, will be looking for a home semi-final, while Wasps - in seventh spot - have not given up on a play-off spot themselves.
Both were knocked out of their respective European competitions last weekend with Wasps being soundly beaten by Leinster in the Amlin Cup while Leicester were impressive despite losing to Toulon in the Heineken Cup.
Despite that loss to Leinster, Wasps winger Christian Wade's performance certainly caught the eye with some calling for him to be named in the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. And while Miles Harrison carefully considers his inclusion in Warren Gatland's squad, he says that Wasps will need more than Wade's sleight of foot to nullify an impressive Tigers pack.
Stuart Barnes said that Leicester were heroic in defeat in Toulon - do you agree with that and what would they have learnt from that game?
MILES REPLIES: Yes, I do agree with Stuart - that Leicester performance definitely fell into the 'heroic' category. I always felt it was a tie that was going to be determined by home advantage and, in the end, it was. The fact that Leicester stayed in touch, and at times more than that, for the whole of the game was a great credit to them. There was that period at the start of the second-half when Toulon would have blown away most teams but the Tigers proved what spirit they have in this side. Had it been at Welford Road, it could have been different but, at least Leicester can take a lot out of how they performed last Sunday, even if it was in defeat. They learned how close a unit they are, if they didn't know that already, which judging by their performance, they did.
Wasps may have lost to Leinster in the Amlin Cup but there were some pretty impressive moments from Christian Wade. Does talk of a Lions place seem a little far-fetched? Surely he must be on Stuart Lancaster's list for England's tour to Argentina?
MILES REPLIES: Let's deal with this in two parts. First, the easy one: Christian Wade will be on Stuart Lancaster's list for Argentina - end of story. As for the Lions, I'm finding this a fascinating debate and bear with me as I set out my thoughts. Wade has undoubted, almost unique, talents and abilities to do what most others can't and these are powerful attributes. However, it is also clear that in defence he makes mistakes. To be fair, I think he gets a bit of a rough deal when it comes to the assessment of his defence because he seems to tackle with great conviction and purpose. And, who doesn't makes mistakes? But, I also think Wade still looks, at times, very much a work in progress in this area - occasionally rushing up out of the line etc. I accept though that these are the things you can work on and his attacking skills seem to be natural born and that is the best way round to have it. But, is he honestly ready to be exposed in tight Test Match situations and Lions Test scenarios?
Some will still argue that he is so good at what he does best - finishing - that this should win out over everything else and that argument might be valid in that Wade has genuinely frightened all defences he has come up against so far. But, I'll come back to that in a second when considering what others have to offer too.
Some argue that they see him as a mid-week Lion - this argument is less convincing though as, in my book, you should be ready to be a Test Lion on tour, full stop, as you are only an injury away from promotion. All Lions should be Test Lions potentially - this is not a development tour.
I suppose, in conclusion, that the key question is: is he better, as a complete package, than what else is on offer right now? George North, Alex Cuthbert, Leigh Halfpenny (could be used as a wing if not a full-back as he surely must be in the Test team in some form) or Tommy Bowe and Simon Zebo, as they can come back, hopefully firing, after injury and we haven't even mentioned Sean Maitland, Tim Visser, Mike Brown and Chris Ashton - all of whom have varying degrees of Test match experience behind them now and varying degrees of versatility too.
Yes, if it wasn't so competitive, I could see Wade making it but maybe, this time, there are others just too far in front in the queue. Perhaps the solution would be to increase the party by one and say we are not just taking a wildcard but an extra card! But, there aren't really enough games to justify that and, again, this is a Lions tour and not a development tour.
However, what a lovely headache for Warren Gatland to have and Wade still might feel he has time to make his case irresistible. If he does that over the last three Premiership games, it is going to be fun to watch. He also might just feel that without an England cap yet, Argentina is the best place for him at the moment. He is, of course, not going to say 'no' either way and, ultimately, it will be for others to decide.
So, Wasps have got some strong strike runners but can you see them handling the Leicester pack come scrum and lineout time?
MILES REPLIES: In short, I think you have probably hit the nail on the head to this game. If Wasps can't handle the Leicester forwards, as they failed to handle the Northampton pack the other week, then you can only see one result. But, if it goes fast and loose, on a nice day in the East Midlands, on a firm Welford Road pitch, then Wasps might well fancy their chances. But, remember, nobody has scored more tries than Leicester in the Premiership this season going into Round 20 and they haven't all been penalty tries - Leicester can run a bit too! Also, Wasps' selection indicates that they are saving some of their big guns for the last two rounds. But, one way (or should that be Wade) or the other, it should be another cracking afternoon. I look forward to your company.
