Reddan Sticking With Wasps

Eoin Reddan has ended speculation about him possibly returning home to play for one of the provinces next season by declaring: “I’m staying at Wasps.”

Reddan, one of European club rugby’s most consistent scrum halves, spoke about his immediate future after being named in the Irish side to take on France next weekend.

Despite being linked with a move to Leinster, the 27-year-old is happy to remain a London Wasps player and comfortable in his role as the heartbeat of Ian McGeechan’s Heineken Cup-winning side.

“I’m staying at Wasps. I don’t know why it has become such an issue. Things are working for me at Wasps so there’s no point in breaking something that is fixed,” said Reddan, whose current contract with the Londoners expires at the end of the season.

“There are some very good teams in Ireland but from a personal point of view, whatever is happening at Wasps is making me play well.

“There are no regrets about the move to England. I joined Wasps from Munster in 2005 and back then I was a completely different player.

“I’ve learned so much at Wasps. You keep on working on little things and I have been fortunate in having some very good coaches around me.”

Reddan credits Wasps head coach Shaun Edwards, who has taken on a part-time role as Wales’ defence coach, with being a key influence on his career and helping him on his way to becoming a Test standard number 9.

“Shaun Edwards has been brilliant. He was one of the great half-backs in rugby league and he seems to have a knack of bringing things through to union,” said the Limerick man.

“A high percentage of the tries I’ve scored will be down to the lines Shaun has suggested I run. He’s very astute about that.”

Turning his attention to this weekend’s visit to Stade de France, where Ireland lost 25-3 to France during the World Cup, Reddan is confident that if the team keep plugging away, things will begin to click for them and they will start showing a clinical edge.

“I’ve said a few times now it (Stade de France) is where things went wrong (in the World Cup) so it’s a good place to start putting things right. We’ve often had a slow start to the Six Nations and Saturday we had a slow start but we did create opportunities, no matter what people think. It was just that we didn’t finish them.

“When confidence isn’t as high as it has been, the first thing that deserts a team is its finishing. Often when the confidence comes back, it’s the first thing that comes back,” he added.

“It mightn’t necessarily happen this week, it could be an ugly game that we can still win. Hopefully if we keep putting ourselves in positions for it to click, it will click and we’ll start finishing some tries off.”

– Click here to listen to an audio interview with Eoin Reddan as IrishRugby.ie continues its build-up to Saturday’s Six Nations showdown with France