Loss to Irish.

[Shugs]

Doesn't seem to be a thread exclusively for this. Just back and overwhelming emotion is real disappointment. We looked lateral and inventiveless in attack. I'd like to know if someone is instructing Sopoaga to play so deep. Kibirige finished well but defensively we have a real issue on his flank. When we camped on their line in the second half the ball was terribly slow and we just employed the "if you miss a tackle we'll score" approach. With such slow ball they weren't going to miss tackles. We have issues (longstanding, not just today) at second row and 12 which are hurting us. We really need Gopperth back. A courple of really odd decisions were worrying 1) To kick for three with 7 minutes left invited them back into our half and then 2) When we won an attacking line out with nothing on the clock we threw to the front when they were never going to contest, making it easy for them to pile in at the front. To try and find positives Willis was different class and our scrum was ok.

[HDAWG]

Agree with all that.

Will also add we had lots of offside penalties. Attack didn't seem to catch Irish off-guard. We didn't protect the ball at the breakdown. We tried to offload too much and tried too hard to keep the ball alive sometimes. We also didn't offload at the right times e.g. Watson not offloading to 3 other players. I didn't think Fekitoa was used correctly.

In the first half we had moments of brilliant quick ball and looked exceptional in build up to first try. Once again lack consistency.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

Other than a few odd decisions, and listening to the RefLink, JP seemed to have a relatively OK game.

Ball was very slow out of our ruck. Got turned over a few times as Robson while waving his arms at something; they simply knicked it back off us.

In the first half we continued to run into contact with no support == penalties for holding on etc. Second half that started to get a bot better.

Irish defence was a model of how to do it. Ours wasn't bad, but when we did the rush up on their line, they simply tossed it over our somewhat shorter players.

Our lineout got disrupted way too often, but our scrum was good.

Our backs may be fast, but we were simply outsized there. We were never going to run through them, or around them.

With such slow ball, our forwards must have spent 30 minutes on their 5m line running in to a brick wall. Their was one knock on that was deliberate and should have been a penalty try, but, you take the rough the smooth.

With all the territory and possession we had in the second half, it was criminal not to win that game.

IF that is our best, we are not going to do very well this season. So, I look forward to further improvement and better results.

Onwards and upwards, I am sure the squad and our excellent coaches will be working on it during the week.

I didn't see anyone obviously badly injured (maybe Booj, who wasn't having a good game, not that Juan was any improvement - have I mentioned before that we need a 12?). Tommy is a bit odd, as this is far from the first time he has cried off sick right before the game. Does he like dodgy curries or something?

[mike909]

I agree in the main with NWW - as I said on the other thread, it was a new team in essence - it was going to have moments - but it looked too much like the way they played was how they were told/wanted to play.

The worry is that was how they were coached/directed to play.

Lets wait on next week - but if its no different - then the senior players need to stand up and be counted as this could get out of control quite quickly with Glaws away and Bath at home. Both Sarries and Saints with loads of first teamers missing looked like they had met before....we were not that weakened by RWC/Injuries

[Hymenoptera]

Shugs....basically what I wrote on the other thread.

Mike..think you'll find Irish were a newer team

[mike909]

Yep - that's true - makes it worse.....

[Westy68]

Brad Shields was injured but he can’t go through a game without getting injured

[westwaleswasp]

I have often supported Dai, but I have always qualified it - if he wants to play a safety first foward orientated game with a ten deep in the pocket, solid set piece and a couple of fast wings added on for decoration, like putting go faster stripes on a tractor, then, frankly, he can go because it won't be successful and it isn't what I want to watch a Wasps team doing. It is often difficult to see what he wants, given what we have played like at different times over his tenure and the rotation and injury lists, so I am hoping that he wants to play with a ten in traffic, a mobile back row that effects turnovers and a set of forwards and backs who can interchange. I guess time will tell, but today is more worrying for the style than the performance. The scrum was fine, but I am forced to concur with many of the opinions above- it is a bit worrying to say the least.....
As for some of our decisions, yeah odd to say the least.

[Heathen]

I have often supported Dai, but I have always qualified it - if he wants to play a safety first foward orientated game with a ten deep in the pocket, solid set piece and a couple of fast wings added on for decoration, like putting go faster stripes on a tractor, then, frankly, he can go because it won't be successful and it isn't what I want to watch a Wasps team doing. It is often difficult to see what he wants, given what we have played like at different times over his tenure and the rotation and injury lists, so I am hoping that he wants to play with a ten in traffic, a mobile back row that effects turnovers and a set of forwards and backs who can interchange. I guess time will tell, but today is more worrying for the style than the performance. The scrum was fine, but I am forced to concur with many of the opinions above- it is a bit worrying to say the least.....
As for some of our decisions, yeah odd to say the least.

A very succinct summary WWW. 

Dai has to think very hard about selection for next week, otherwise Castle Grim has the all the possibilities of being a be a horror show for us.

These are the match stats from ESPN.

https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/match?gameId=294862&league=267979

[andermt]

At times we were our own worst enemy today, there were flashes of what a Wasps team can do from pretty much everyone, just nothing more than the odd flash unfortunately. Sopoaga had some nice link play with Fekitoa, but it only happened a couple of times, Watson butchered a walk in try if he had offloaded, JDJ was not happy! Still too often we allow the opposition to just run right through the defensive line, we lost some major yards a couple of times.
Shields and Willis were great at the breakdown, Willis in particular, Kibirigi showing how to finish and good to see Dan back running the show, I have ref-link and it was good to hear how much Dan was pushing JP Doyle, only time he didn't really was the slap down in the 2nd half that wasn't even looked at, even the BT Sport guys were commenting on it. We desperately need a 12, spoke to Jimmy very briefly before the match but he wasn't making any comment on when he would be back.
On the subject of BT Sport, did any of you see the point in the 2nd half where we had a scrum and they showed the attacking set-up on the big screen with highlighting specific players and showing running lines with arrows, I sit near the bench and the wasps staff were getting very animated about it with the BT Sport director who was on the radio to stop it happening again. Really poor form from BT and hope we don't see that again for any team!

[westwaleswasp]

Maybe our crew thought "BT have a good idea, someone tell Dan Robson to cancel the ten minutes of inching the drinks cabinet one inch closer to Berlin". 

[Rossm]

Would someone with a better knowledge of the laws please tell me why, when Lima aimed what looked like a perfect cross field kick for Zach when we were under a penalty advantage and the LI full back (I think) batted it down with one hand, Doyle did not even seem to consider a yellow card and a possible penalty try? I know that wasn't why we got beat but it would certainly have made a big difference.

[InBetweenWasp]

Or why when their player was carded for collapsing a maul on their try line after a series of other infringements it was deemed serious enough for a card, but not a penalty try?

Or why Doyle didn’t penalise Lima when the Irish FB went diving back on a kick and wasn’t allowed to get up before Lima went straight over the top.

Lots of seemingly odd decisions, but then, often it seems that those watching on TV or with RefLink in don’t feel the same inconsistencies that those of us in the stands without RefLink tend to see/feel.

I guess Doyle’s refereeing probably wasn’t as bad as it seemed. I think our performance largely was though.

Part of me hoped that when Cips was spear-heading our attack that it was part Danny and part Blackett’s influence such that with Danny gone, we still might have the same fluidity or sharpness in attack.

I wonder how much Jimmy will make a difference to this. But it can’t be that we rely on Jimmy.

Fekitoa at 13 could be a weapon for a strike runner who can break the line - something that we’ve not had for a good while. We know that Watson, Bassett and Kibirige can finish if given the chance.

On paper, we should still be capable of scoring brilliant tries. But don’t seem to have the patterns or variation to do so.

[Brandnewtorugby]

Agree with the points made about Wasps, but I won't be surprised if Irish upset a few sides this season, they seem a big team and played carefully and well.

[wasps]

In-betweenwasp...
Lima didn't have to let him up. He can go and attack the ball with the player on the ground, providing he doesn't "tackle" the already grounded player.



I thought they'd look at the Blair Cowan pass that led to their winger running in from 50+ yards.
He definitely caught it in front of where Cowan was, and Cowan didn't have much momentum.
It probably was first given the way it's policed these days, but I thought it was debatable enough to check again