THE DAWNING OF A NEW AGE AT WASPS UNDER BLACKETT
Lee Blackett will be the youngest head coach/DoR to be in charge of a Premiership-winning team for 13 years if Wasps overcome odds of 13/5 and beat Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham this Saturday.
Wasps head coach Lee Blackett joked last week that Jimmy Gopperth must have had a far easier paper round when it was remarked to him that they were both 37 years of age.
Gopperth’s points and on-field leadership have been pivotal to Wasps’ run to the Gallagher Premiership final and the evergreen Kiwi is showing no signs of easing up.
But while Wasps’ lynchpin will marshal his side on the Twickenham pitch in Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership Final against newly-crowned European champions Exeter Chiefs, Blackett is the man calling the shots off it despite his relatively tender years.
Promoted to the main coaching role from backs coach after Dai Young stepped down earlier in the season, Blackett will be 28 days short of his 38th birthday when the top two sides in England clash.
Australian Pat Howard holds the record as the youngest man in charge; he was only 33 years and 181 days old when Leicester Tigers crushed Gloucester in the 2007 showpiece, according to The Rugby Tipster.
Also, if successful, Blackett will become only the fourth Englishman* to steer his side to victory, following in the footsteps of Richard Cockerill (Leicester 2009, 2010 and 2013), Jim Mallinder (Northampton 2014) and his direct adversary on Saturday, Rob Baxter (Exeter Chiefs 2017).
Remarkable rise
Blackett’s coaching journey started at Sheffield Hallam University and in the RFU Championship with Rotherham.
He masterminded two semi-final appearances for the Titans and ran Bristol close on both occasions despite a massive gulf in resources.
As the record-holder for the fastest Premiership try (8.28 seconds for Leeds v Newcastle), Blackett is used to getting where he wants to quickly and a step up into the Premiership (in 2015) was inevitable, according to Rotherham DoR Martin Jenkinson, who made Blackett the youngster head coach in the top two tiers of English rugby when he gave him the job at the Titans back in 2013.
“It was clear from the off he was a cut above. We knew we couldn’t stand in his way; he was destined for bigger and better things,” Jenkinson said.
“He’s got all the components. He is technically very able, he’s massively driven and works hard and although he has the personality to have a laugh and joke, he also has a ruthless edge. If someone needs dropping, he drops them; if someone needs telling, he tells them.
“I am certain Lee would have been successful in whatever he wanted to do, whether it was rugby or something else.”
PREMIERSHIP WINNING DoRs/HEAD COACHES BY AGE
Year Champions DoR/Head Coach Nationality Age
2007 Leicester Pat Howard Australia 33
2009 Leicester Richard Cockerill England 38
2003 Wasps Warren Gatland New Zealand 39
2006 Sale Sharks Philippe Saint-Andre France 39
2010 Leicester Richard Cockerill England 39
2004 Wasps Warren Gatland New Zealand 40
2012 Harlequins Conor O'Shea Ireland 41
2005 Wasps Warren Gatland New Zealand 41
2013 Leicester Richard Cockerill England 42
2011 Saracens Mark McCall Ireland 43
2017 Exeter Rob Baxter England 45
2014 Northampton Jim Mallinder England 48
2015 Saracens Mark McCall Ireland 48
2016 Saracens Mark McCall Ireland 49
2018 Saracens Mark McCall Ireland 51
2019 Saracens Mark McCall Ireland 52
2008 Wasps Ian McGeechan Scotland+ 61
*Sir Ian McGeechan was born in Leeds, England but Scotland is classed as his nationality
