PROPS don’t always get the accolades they deserve but Jake Cooper-Woolley walked off with Young Player of the Year award at the end of a sparkling debut season for Wasps.

A foot injury ruled him out of a triumphant run-in but after five frustrating months he is back on the training ground now and ready to muscle in on a place in the front row again.

He said: “It was very frustrating getting injured but it doesn’t take the shine off my first season.

“I played my first game back two weeks ago when I came on for 20 minutes and I did the same last week so it’s all good. At least I didn’t miss five months of playing.”

Cooper-Woolley joined from Cardiff Blues and was a regular in the side from the word go.

He said: “I was very nervous at the start. It’s a step up and you’re not sure what to expect. I certainly never expected to play the amount of rugby I did and it was a steep learning curve.

“But by the end I was looking forward to playing opponents rather than thinking, ‘wow, I’m playing against him’. I’d never expected to play against these guys.”

But while Cooper-Woolley made the jersey his own with a string of eye-catching performances, he’ll have a fight on his hands this season.

While he was on the treatment table Wasps swooped for Italian international Lorenzo Cittadini.

He joined from Treviso during the close season and has started every match so far.

Cooper-Woolley said: “Last season I felt there was a bit of a reliance on me to play every week but we’ve signed another experienced tighthead prop so hopefully we can spread the workload a little bit.

“And I think there will be a lot more rugby to be played this season with the Champions Cup as opposed to the Amlin Cup.

“We’ve got a tough eight week block at the start of the season and players won’t always be able to back up their performances. I will take my opportunities whenever I get them.”

Wasps need to do the same. They have narrowly lost two away games against teams from last season’s top four, but should have won them both.

Cooper-Woolley said: “It’s down to our own personal errors. We should and could have won those games.

“Most teams can beat each other in this league and the difference between being at the top and the bottom is going to be which teams can back up those performances.

A lot of the onus must be on the players. It’s nothing the coaches can put right. The intensity just wasn’t there and the players have to be accountable for that.

“I think that comes from the culture at the club, but we’re slowly getting there and demanding more of each other.”