SHAUN Edwards is not the sort of personality you just replace, but when he left Wasps after the World Cup someone had to take over his role and the task fell to Rob Hoadley.

Hoadley had played under Edwards and coached alongside him for both Wasps and Wales before being handed the job full time in December.

He said: “I learned more from him than I can ever say. Drawing from his experience was something you can’t buy.

“He’s one of the most generous people you’ll ever meet and I was really lucky he took me under his wing.”

Apart from his Wasps experience, Hoadley also went to two World Cups and went through two Six Nations campaigns with Wales.

It’s not surprising some of Edwards’ methods rubbed off.

Hoadley said: “Everyone has their own ideas of how they want things done, but Shaun and I agreed on a lot of things when I was a player and we always got on well. We had similar ideas.

“We basically saw things in the same way, but this year it’s been nice to put my own stamp on things.”

It’s not gone exactly to plan though. While Wasps’ boasted the tightest defence in terms of tries conceded before the loss at Gloucester on Boxing Day, results have been one notch below disastrous.

Hoadley said: “I’m not happy with the way it’s going. We’re second bottom. It’s about your league position and winning games.

“I could sit here and say we’ve got the best defence in the league – which we haven’t now – but it’s irrelevant.

“It’s like a winger saying he’s the top try-scorer in the league but if you’re down the bottom it doesn’t matter.”

Of course, Hoadley hasn’t had the likes of Fraser Waters to be his on pitch general, and those that have assumed the role have generally lasted a handful of games and then got injured.

Hoadley said: “Combinations are a big part of defence.

“Chris Bell and Joe Launchbury – intelligent, physical players – have been a big miss.

“We’ve got quality players in their place, but it takes a little while to work those combinations.

“So it’s challenging, but I’ve absolutely loved this year and I think we’ve got the sort of group that if we do get our injuries sorted out I really do think we can make an impact in the league next year.”