BIYI ALO insists Wasps are trying to make “well-rounded players” after he grabbed his second try of the season in last week’s win against Bath.
Alo powered over at the Coventry Building Society Arena as Wasps secured a 41-24 victory, having also touched down against Toulouse in the European Champions Cup.
Next up for Wasps is a trip to reigning champions Harlequins as they look to secure a fifth successive win in the Gallagher Premiership.
And the prop admits that whilst he does not expect to score tries he believes creating well-rounded players means nobody should be surprised when he does cross the line.
Alo said: “I don’t think any tighthead can see themselves as a try-scoring threat, it’s exciting to get your hands on the ball when you’re in those close quarters.
“We’re almost looked at by the team as those guys who bring that go forward, tries are just a bonus really, it’s very rare that I score.
“It’s nice to have more to your game than just a set-piece, the coaches here are trying to make well-rounded players.
“It’s not a surprise what anybody does on the pitch because we’re all trying to make good decisions on and off the ball and the set-piece is massive for us as a club.”
Off the field, Alo has a passion for music and has over 500,000 streams for his songs on Spotify having turned to the hobby during an injury sustained after the Premiership final in 2018/19.
Alo added: “I had quite a bad wrist injury, I was out from pretty much the end of November until April, it wasn’t nice, it wasn’t pleasant.
“With any athlete, you want to give your all and you want to put everything you can into the sport but when you physically can’t you need a little bit of an outlet.
“When I got injured, I started focusing outside of rugby, I like to think of myself as quite an expressive and creative person, I really had to channel that and I made some pretty cool stuff on the music side.
“It was all going hand-in-hand, I wasn’t getting too stressed out on either side, it was a nice balance, that managed to keep me on track during the injury.”
And reflecting on his Wasps debut away at Leicester Tigers in March 2019, Alo admitted it was a huge moment to represent the club after a tough period in the sport.
He said: “That day was massive, that was the first time I’ve played at a packed out Welford Road, the atmosphere was there, and being able to put on that Wasps jersey was absolutely massive for me.
“After everything that I’d been through in the past season, it was a great day, one which I remember, we didn’t come away with the win but I wouldn’t change anything.
“It was a bit up and down [before Wasps], I was in talks with French teams, I couldn’t really plan too far ahead, I was just thinking about the next week and the next game to try and put my best foot forward.
“Then I had to take some time out of rugby for health reasons and had an opportunity to get some game time and join the boys at Coventry.
“That was definitely a positive for me, I love the rugby environment, being back with the boys, being able to work on yourself and chase things as a team.”
Wasps travel to Harlequins on Saturday, February 19 with kick-off at 3pm at Twickenham Stoop.
