Launchbury stays loyal despite links to a move elsewhere

England second row Joe Launchbury is to continue his club career at Wasps after signing a contract extension to remain at Ricoh Arena.

Captain since 2016 at a club he has been with for ten years, the lock has amassed over 60 appearances for his country and was part of England’s recent 2019 World Cup squad that reached the final in Japan. 

Devon-born Launchbury joined the Wasps senior academy in 2009 and soon made his Premiership debut as a teenager in 2011.

The 28-year-old talisman passed the 100-appearance mark for the club during the 2016/17 season, a year in which Wasps reached the Premiership final, and he was named alongside three team-mates in the league’s dream team at the end of the campaign.

Director of rugby Dai Young said: “Joe has been a tremendous servant to the club and we’re thrilled he has agreed to sign a new deal. He is a born leader, who adds a lot to this team. Having someone of his ilk pledging their future to the club is a real statement of intent.”

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Launchbury said: “Wasps have been great to me and I will forever have an association with the club. There have been some special moments during the past ten years and I want to create more of those over the coming seasons.

“We have a good young squad and we’re now starting to see young players coming through the system which a crucial cog in any elite club.  With a fantastic home ground at Ricoh Arena and our own high-performance training base being built, the future certainly looks very bright.

“Hopefully as a club we keep developing and growing more and more Premiership-class players, and compete for silverware moving forward.”

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