Voyce keen to hit right note with Wasps

If Wasps’ England stars are looking for a tonic for their World Cup final agony, they will not have to wait long.

Rugby’s ultimate prize may not be up for grabs for another four years but there is plenty of silverware to play for between now and then, not least the defence of the club game’s top trophy.

The Heineken Cup is set to resume and with the top English and French clubs in tow, despite the boycott threat that haunted the competition last term.

Had an agreement not been reached – announced on the day of last season’s final - Wasps may not have had the chance to defend the title they won in such convincing style.

For winger Tom Voyce, such a prospect was unthinkable.

“I only had a vague idea of what was going on,” he said of the row between the Rugby Football Union and Premier Rugby about how much cash competing clubs should receive.

“Obviously, I didn’t want the competition to shut down or for only certain nations to be playing in it.”

May’s surprisingly one-sided romp against treble-chasing Leicester was Voyce’s second taste of success in the competition following the 2004 win, his first season at the club.

That first final, a thriller against Toulouse won by Rob Howley’s opportunist late try, was in stark contrast to the 25-9 thumping dished out on Pat Howard’s Tigers farewell.

Much has been made of how Wasps felt disrespected in the build-up to that final, such was the attention on Leicester’s bid for an unprecedented treble.

But Voyce said: “Wasps very much like to be the underdogs and we were quite happy for Leicester to take all the limelight and bask in potentially winning the treble.

“We knew we just had to stick tight as a group.

“I don’t think people necessarily wrote us off but obviously the way Leicester were playing, they were favourites.

“You can’t really underestimate a Wasps side.

“There have been other games where we haven’t been hitting top form going into the game but we’re able to win the big games when it matters.

“The main thing is picking up the trophy at the end of the day.

“We play quite a power game and physically we wanted to match them in the tackle area, in defence and in attack. That’s how we did so well,” Voyce explained.

“We played 80 minutes of physical rugby in which we weren’t prepared to be bullied. We were going to bully them and put ourselves in good positions for scoring our opportunities.”

That physical approach is certain to be repeated this season in what Voyce described as an “extremely tough pool” containing Munster, Llanelli Scarlets and Clermont Auvergne.

“This is as tough, if not tougher than we’ve had before,” he added.

First up is 2006 champions Munster at Coventry City’s Ricoh Arena.

Voyce said: “You have to win your home games. In the past, we’ve not been good at that, which meant we were out of the pool stages.”

A trip to Llanelli follows and Voyce is concerned about the effect of England’s World Cup resurgence and Ireland and Wales’ pool-stage failures.

He said: “The disadvantage for us is the World Cup boys doing well, whereas the Welsh and the Irish came back home early and were able to get with their regions and start targeting the Heineken Cup.”

The third game in the competition brings a reunion with fly-half Alex King, who joined Clermont Auvergne after signing off with four penalties and a drop goal in Wasps’ final win.

The match may not have happened at all but for the end of the club-versus-country row, and Voyce left little doubt on which side of the divide he sat.

“It’s documented how little we gained from winning the Heineken Cup,” he said.

“I was hoping the competition would be better publicised.

“When you’re winning European trophies in football, the clubs are bringing in epic amounts of money.

“For Wasps, who don’t have their own ground or a fan base as big as the Leicester’s and Toulouse’s, every little helps.”