Alfie

[Neils]

Congratulations to Alfie hopefully the first of many call ups for the lad.


Leaves us in a bit of a pickle for the Falcons though. I can see Gaskell going to the back row and the new 2nd row from Pirates going straight in the starting 15 although he plays a lot at six so could replace Alfie.

The problem is he hasn't played for months and most likely not trained to be match fit as Pirates season hasn't been announced yet.

[wasps]

Oghre to back row?
Doesn't disrupt our 2nd row and if, as speculated, his confidence may have taken a knock, it might be a good way to build him back up

[Shugs]

I think Barbeary will still be available for us once EJ releases him. He just won't have had the prep time with the squad.

[Rossm]

Alfie Barbeary: England call-up's 'big shift in mentality' explained by Wasps boss Lee Blackett

Bobby Bridge reports:

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/rugby/who-is-alfie-barbeary-wasps-19375914

[MarleyWasp]

Perhaps Mental Eddie has called him up as a centre

Don't be silly; he's actually played in the centre. Far too overqualified...

[Horusthewasp]

Out of (genuine) interest, what kind of relationship does Eddie have with club DORs\HCs when it comes to international selection? Is it simply “FYI - I’m taking XYZ” when selection is announced or are there high level 2-way discussions (not necessarily agreements) along the way?

Yes certain players might be considered a ‘certainty’ and yes selection can be very fluid, but it would be interesting to get insight into how they communicate ... particularly with clubs heavily impacted.

[Raggs]

We lose Alfie in training for 5 days. We get back a player who's now been exposed to the highest level, and is likely going to want to fight to get into that setup permanently. 1 game for potentially a better player over the next however many months/years. I'll take that happily. Anyone complaining about Jacob being called up but released back? No different with Alfie in my mind.

[Neils]

From the Evening Standard -

What’s more, both Barbeary’s starts have come as a blindside flanker, but Jones says he is in the England squad as a hooker – his position when playing for England U20s.

Barbeary has enjoyed a flying start to his club career, whether at hooker or in the back row. He scored off the bench on debut against Worcester in August, then scored a hat-trick of tries on his next appearance, a start against Leicester. He arrives in camp in form too, having scored in Wasps’ defeat at Gloucester on Saturday.

Jones has explained his call up, saying he has been invited to train with England “to shine boots and pick up forks and spoons”.


Barbeary looks set to be released back to Wasps when Jones slims his squad down to 25 on Wednesday evening. Bath’s Tom Dunn, who has made two brief appearances off the bench this Autumn, lost his place in the camp to Barbeary.

“For us, he’s a hooker,” said Jones. “He's got a long way to go before he plays Test rugby, but he's certainly a player of potential and we're looking forward to him training this week.

“He's got to work hard. He's a young lad coming in so he's shining boots, picking up forks and spoons, doing all the apprentice work.”

[DGP Wasp]

“He's got to work hard. He's a young lad coming in so he's shining boots, picking up forks and spoons, doing all the apprentice work.”

Really?  In a professional sport in 2020?  If a player is in the squad then they're there to gain from the experience and be ready to step up in the event of injury.  You don't do that by polishing Owen Farrell's boots!  I know that may be a bit of a tongue in cheek comment from Eddie, but can't imagine Lee's too happy at the thought of Alfie and Jacob kicking around camp for a week cleaning up after the rest of the squad when they could be back at Wasps taking a meaningful part in training.

[baldpaul101]

Given how much Lee said Jacob got from his first stint training with England earlier in the year, I would say he's perfectly happy to have another young player gaining that valuable experience.

I would also suggest that no one is cleaning anyone's boots.

[Hymenoptera]

We lose Alfie in training for 5 days. We get back a player who's now been exposed to the highest level, and is likely going to want to fight to get into that setup permanently. 1 game for potentially a better player over the next however many months/years. I'll take that happily. Anyone complaining about Jacob being called up but released back? No different with Alfie in my mind.

I wonder if your contrary on purpose. The situations are so very different I can't even be bothered to offer a counter argument.

[Raggs]

We lose Alfie in training for 5 days. We get back a player who's now been exposed to the highest level, and is likely going to want to fight to get into that setup permanently. 1 game for potentially a better player over the next however many months/years. I'll take that happily. Anyone complaining about Jacob being called up but released back? No different with Alfie in my mind.

I wonder if your contrary on purpose. The situations are so very different I can't even be bothered to offer a counter argument.

Amusingly I often think the same of yourself . I suspect we just have rather different outlooks on things .

[MarleyWasp]

From the Evening Standard -

“For us, he’s a hooker,” said Jones. “He's got a long way to go before he plays Test rugby, but he's certainly a player of potential and we're looking forward to him training this week.

“He's got to work hard. He's a young lad coming in so he's shining boots, picking up forks and spoons, doing all the apprentice work.”

So he's starting against France then!

[Shugs]

The only thing I agree with from Jones on this is that he's there as a hooker. Presumably he's honing those skills in between his menial tasks. I really don't get the idea of the apprentice thing though or particularly like it. I can see the arguments others have put forward have merit but for me it's a disruptive gimmick.

[baldpaul101]

I think its a decent way of getting young players into the international environment without the pressure of being selected to play the actual match. Jones did it with Jacob & Marcus Smith that I can think of. Lancaster did it with Daly IIRC?

Coaches get to see how the player reacts to training with internationals.
player gets a massive confidence boost
club gets an enthused, confident player back in time for the weekend.

Granted its not the best timing for Wasps given the back row injury crisis but I doubt you will see Lee Blackett complaining