7 Positive COVID tests

[PestNproud]

I’d rather Wasps forfeit the game than send a depleted team against Exeter that hasn’t been able to train together - unless there was money at stake?

Our season has been a bit of a roller coaster but overall it has been fantastic.

Surely, there's no such thing as a 'depleted' Wasps side these days! (And Chiefs only 3 points ahead in the season, which we could have bettered, for anyone who thinks they deserve special favours, which I'm sure they wouldn't want themselves as they want this on merit on the pitch.)

More seriously, in the hands of the rugby gods now, and I wouldn't even begrudge Briz the unlikely snaffling of the prize after the job they did on Toulon. Is there a better Wasps-understudy in England at the current time than the Bears?

[Rory87]

Am I reading this right... people would rather see another side in the final than as ‘depleted wasps’?!

Clubs have squads for a reason. Our ‘squad players’ have pulled off some results in their time including this season. Anything can happen in a one off game, so I wouldn’t go ruling out us turning it on even with a side missing some names.

I’d much rather be in with a shout of getting that trophy and getting beaten 40-0 than be sat at home watching Bristol (who we demolished in the SF) there in our place.

We as a club deserve to be there, the squad deserve to be there. So if we can field 23 players the lads deserve to be there.

[MarleyWasp]

If we play in the final, I really do believe we'll win it...

[NellyWellyWaspy]

So, after all that, we, and Chiefs & Bears, are no further forwards. From the Sale debacle we can deduce that the PRL will not interfere this time. They will leave it to Wasps to act upon advice given by PHE, and we must assume PHE are saying wait for Tuesday's test results, due on Wednesday. Only if sufficient of the 'bubbles' that can constitute the match day 23 are burst will PHE advise each bubble to self-isolate. If that happens, and we can't make a match day 23, from wherever in our squad, no matter how young etc, THEN Wasps must cede the match. Nothing in the original return to play Covid 'rules' say what happens next. For me, there should be no match, and Chiefs should win. Bears did not earn the right to play, as they lost to us fair and square.

If, on the other hand, PHE say it is safe to play our proposed 23, then the game is on.

[Horusthewasp]

I’d rather Wasps forfeit the game than send a depleted team against Exeter that hasn’t been able to train together - unless there was money at stake?

Our season has been a bit of a roller coaster but overall it has been fantastic.

I would rather forfeit as well.
But just give Exeter the win.
A game against Bristol is nothing more than a very hollow sideshow.

Why on earth would anyone want to forfeit..we have many front line players as proven against Sarries, who would love to be involved in a final.
Never heard the like..

Completely agree! I don’t understand or accept talk of “forfeiting” or that “it’s all over”. I can fully understand & appreciate the emotions after today’s announcement but we need to put matters into perspective. We have beaten the odds over the last few months and have proven how resilient and strong the squad and mentality is. Yes today’s news is a blow but why the immediate capitulation? I remember after Sale announced the 19 +ve results, their supporters were weary but remained so bullish and egged on their DOR and team to march on.

Yes the lack of training is an issue but we know for a fact that at least 4 of the 7 players who tested positive are young players who were unlikely to feature on Saturday. That means, that as we speak, the majority of our first team are fit, healthy and ready. Plus it was only 2 weeks ago that we were training for what was effectively a knock out game against Exeter (prior to Baxter’s announcement to field a tier 2 team).

Anyway for now all we can do is remain hopeful and wait for Wednesday. Chin up!

COYW!

[NellyWellyWaspy]

Actually, Pat Lam has just confirmed that the play off rules are that the next team in line does get to play. I really feel for Bears. They have had their end of season party postponed, some were due off on holiday already, so those plans will have had to be cancelled. What a mess. I do agree, if we can field a team, we should. But, that is down to PHE. The indications are that more positive results on Wednesday and it is over. But, what happens if the other teams also get positive results ..... ?

[Brandnewtorugby]

I don't think it is just a case of having 23 negative tests. Since it is thought to take a few days before there are enough viral particles to test positive. If there are new positive test results on Tuesday then it starts to be hard to demonstrate to Exeter that it was safe for them to play us.

[MarleyWasp]

Given the squad haven't trained together since at least Tuesday last week, possibly since Monday, if there are no new positive tests then I would say it's been contained by virtue of the squad isolating from each other for a week.

It could well be that the four who tested positive on Saturday could be close social contacts of the eight who tested positive last week and the club expected there to be a high chance of them testing positive.

In terms of how this impacts our chances of we do play on Saturday, I don't think it's significant. If by the time of the build up to a final you have lots of things you need to cover in on field training, something has gone wrong and you're in for a hiding. Most of the work will be around general fitness, which can be done at home by the players, and tactical analysis which can be done over Zoom with the relevant players.

[Marlow Nick]

Maybe they should switch to a live stream of rugby challenge 4 on xbox. I'm sure some of our younger players are adept

[MarleyWasp]

Chris Jones of the Sunday Times reporting that two of the positives have been found to be false positives.

[Shugs]

Crikey. Farcical. Surely by final day if we have a squad available with negative tests they will all have isolated for 14 days? As long as the mix is ok (front row etc) we should play. Can't see how anyone could drum up any enthusiasm for Exeter/Bristol final.

[Dgwasp]

Tomorrow will be a nervous day.  Apparently only 1 more positive result will see us be forced to cede the match.

Hopefully for the players and coaches sake they are all clear.

Slightly changed application of the rules than Sale experienced.

[DGP Wasp]

Apparently only 1 more positive result will see us be forced to cede the match.

Where did you hear that?  Given that the team has not been together for nearly a week now, and are presumably under the strictest of instructions to take no risks in terms of where they go and with whom, the 4 additionals will not have passed anything on within the club, and the original 7 plus close contacts will have been isolating entirely.  Assuming all have done as they were told, and given what's at stake it would be unforgivable to do anything else, any new cases that come to light will not have had any impact on the wider squad.  Anyone who then tests negative in all 3 rounds in the past week should be in the clear.  Even if they were a close contact of one of the original 7, they will have served their 10 day isolation period by Saturday, and if they've tested negative twice in the meantime, then they should be clear to play.  23 players (with the right positional mix) who tested negative in all 3 rounds is all we need, and so far a maximum of 8 out of a squad of 40+ (not inc academy) have actually tested positive, at least 4 of which are believed to be academy players or others outside of the first team squad, and a further 2 of which may (if yesterday's Times report is to be believed) have in fact been false positives.  I see no reason why 1 more tomorrow should mean game over.

[Hymenoptera]

Tomorrow will be a nervous day.  Apparently only 1 more positive result will see us be forced to cede the match.

Hopefully for the players and coaches sake they are all clear.

Slightly changed application of the rules than Sale experienced.

Sale were allowed to progress with 16 positives, why is there a cut off number for Wasps?

[DGP Wasp]

Sale were allowed to progress with 16 positives, why is there a cut off number for Wasps?

I think the answer to that lies in the question... If the Sale debacle hadn't happened with all the criticism that came PRL's way in the aftermath, PRL would now be blundering along as they did with Sale, with presumably greater determination to get the game on at all costs given the relative significance of the games being impacted.  It is to be hoped that someone learned something from that, and now those lessons may be being put into practice.