Our goal is to give it our all to reach the finals - Launchbury
England international and Wasps Lock Joe Launchbury is confident of his team's preparation ahead of their trip to Sandy Park as they face Exeter Chiefs in the semi-finals match of the Aviva Premiership on Saturday 21st May.
Launchbury spoke of his team's determination to give it their all against the Chiefs to reach the finals of the English domestic rugby union competition.
"The excitement here is unbelievable at the moment; it's a great place to be. We all understand the importance of the game and we're looking forward to what will be a massive challenge this weekend. It's been a long time waiting for a Premiership Semi Final, now we're here and the goal is to not let it pass us by and give it our all.
Launchbury described this season as the "toughest" of all resulting in the Coventry side to work extremely hard throughout the year.
Although he revealed his team's desire to defeat Rob Baxter's men in their own den, Launchbury also said there won't be any remorse in going down against Exeter after putting up a performance the players and the supporters of the club can be proud of.
"This squad has worked extremely hard all year to get to this position and we are extremely privileged to be here in what has been one of the toughest seasons to date and we don't want the season to end here.
“We'd love to go down to Exeter, which is an extremely tough place to go, and put in a performance we are proud of and our supporters will be proud of, which will hopefully be enough to give us one more game next week."
Launchbury also stated the need to learn from his side's 17-24 defeat against Saracens in the recently concluded European Champions Cup semi-finals. Saracens further went on to become the first English club in nine years to win the coveted European Rugby tournament after defeating France's Racing 92 by 21-9 at Grand Stade de Lyon on 14th of May.
"We've got to learn from that definitely. It was a great day for the club, a great experience being in a European Semi Final like that but the goal is to progress. On the day we were edged out by Saracens, who were the better team on the day but we have to learn from that and take it into this weekend."
Launchbury was all praises for Wasps Chairman Derek Richardson and doach Dai Young for believing in the team to achieve a reasonable amount of success in a short period of time. He also attributed his recent contract renewal with Wasps to Richardson and Young's vision for the club.
"I'm no different to any other player, we are all desperate to play in these big games and this is why you play rugby, to be involved at the business end of the season and show what you can really do.
“Wasps haven't had that for a few years but, when it came time for me to re-negotiate my contract and have a look at the options and what was going on at this club, I really believed in the vision of Dai and Derek who fully believed in the fact that we could be here in such a short space of time.
“We may have done it slightly quicker than many people had expected but it's brilliant and has completely vindicated my decision to stay at this club."
Launchbury also lauded his opponents ahead of the game and commended their players who are hungry for success. He also believes the experience of facing Exeter multiple times this season has given them sufficient insights in the game-play of their opponents.
"Exeter have been great all year, improving every season. They've probably been a bit more steady in their climb towards the play-offs than we have, with a few good years leading up to this moment.
“They've got a well-balanced, good young squad with players there who are hungry for success. We've played against them a number of times already this season, so we both know what's coming and it will come down to who executes as well as they can."
