Launchbury to lead Wasps

Launchbury is entering his seventh season at Wasps after joining the club from Worthing as a 19-year-old in 2009.

Closing in on a century of appearances for Wasps, Launchbury has been an integral part of the core group of young English players coming through at the club over the past few seasons, who are now winning international recognition.

He has gone on to win 35 caps for his country, in addition to the 91 appearances for his club.

"Joe is a natural leader around the place and I think he has grown with the responsibility of being a leader and an international over the last couple of seasons. He has already proven himself as a world-class player and I'm sure the captaincy will only help him grow again.

"Joe has tremendous role models to follow in James Haskell and Matt Mullan, who have been outstanding for us. They've done a fantastic job and we obviously want them to retain a leadership role," Young said.

Launchbury is looking forward to his new challenge.

"It's a massive honour to have been named the captain and something I am very excited about. Wasps is a club I've been at for a number of years now and I've played under some great captains during that time.

"So I've learnt a lot from them, particularly most recently from Matt Mullan and James Haskell who have been two great captains for us," Launchbury said.