Morning All

[Neils]

Morning to All

Miserable grey morning here. Cold but still. Bit like I feel about our chances really.

Lets hope that without it being a League match the boys can flow freely against a very good side. If we can put up a fight and avoid a crickets score plus any more injuries I will be happy.

Would have loved to be at this one but...

COYW

[NellyWellyWaspy]

Morning Neils. Cold here too, but the cloud is quite high and thin (I can see blue through it). A bitterly cold northerly breeze.

[Rossm]

Morning all. Grey and chilly in Hastings. Must remember this one is an early KO. Hope the lads go out to enjoy themselves and give it a lash. Get some early points and put the wind up the Frenchies. Allez, allez, allez.

[Wombles]

Morning Neils, NWW, Ross and all Waspies from a grey old Guildford. Pre game ritual is underway, although I have temporarily replaced coffee with a nice cup of Yorkshire tea. Let us hope my change of routine will be reflected with our boys turning around their form and performance.

Looking at the two squads it has the potential to be a cracker. My concern however is that we have too many question marks over our lads. The forwards, especially the tight 5 are constantly struggling to match the physicality of the opposition, our scrum and line out rarely give good front foot ball, we lack turnover ball, and currently have a paucity of players jack long effectively. Umaga is having a crisis of confidence, I am concerned that it is going to take a few games for Robson to shake off the negative style that Eddie Jones loves so much. Our midfield looks unbalanced at present and our backs play in general has lost its potency. We look like a team playing with the weight of the world on our shoulders.

If this game is to go to form we will lose, and if we are unlucky we will possibly be the team that takes the heaviest beating of all this weekend, it really could be a man v our moment.

But sport has the wonderful ability to surprise, a 80 minute game from a team playing with unity, physicality, trust and spirit can get victory despite all odds, and this kind of victory can become a turning point in a clubs fortunes going forward.

Everyone is expecting us to lose, but can Lee and the boys find victory when certain defeat is predicted and indeed expected?

Come on you Wasps!

Chris

Once a Wasp ALWAYS a Wasp! 

[WonkyWasp]

Good morning everyone, and  hope you enjoy the weekend. The weather is cold and grey but then it was yesterday at this time but turned warm and sunny by mid-day. Not sure that  Wasps rugby will be very sunny tho' but here's hoping I'm wrong as usual. For the sake of our boys and their confidence I hope I'm very very wrong.  Have squirrelled a cache of choc eggs behind the settee - just in case.  Very pleased to have just been called for my second jab, which happens to be on our 49 wedding anniversary (my dad gave it 3 weeks). Never thought I'd survive that long, so there's hope for us all.  Happy weekend, and safe journeys everywhere.  Good luck Wasps and Allez Allez Allez.  And for heaven's sake . . .  C O Y W . . . .

[Shugs]

Morning all. I'm not quite writing this one off yet. We're at home which is probably less important than Clermont being away (if that makes sense). I think Jacob may play with some freedom (would have liked Jimmy outside him). We have good lineout options with Gaskell at 6. We're a good side - short of confidence. Today is as good a day as any, with the change of competition, to turn that around.

[MarleyWasp]

Morning all from a chilly Hertfordshire. Odds are against us today, but that can work in our favour. There's more pressure on Clermont, a lot of which they generally put on themselves. In contrast, nobody seems to expect us to win which means there's no reason why the team can't go and throw the ball around and have some fun. We beat Toulouse in our first ever European campaign on the back of three straight losses with the mindset of enjoying our rugby and it worked last February. What's to say it can't happen again?

[Vespula Vulgaris]

Morning all!

Not expecting a win, but I would put nothing past this team. If they lost all the time it wouldn't be quite so heartbreaking following them. Every now and then they show us they have the potential to be world beaters.

Maybe today will be one of those days...

[Steve from Cov]

Morning all,
I recall previous occasions when French galacticos - Toulouse and Toulon - came to the Ricoh as favourites and we won. We hammered Toulon on a bitterly cold Sunday tea time game.
We have little momentum right now but we have to throw the kitchen sink at them today.
Here’s hoping.

[Bloke in North Dorset]

Morning all,


Quite nippy down here and the boiler broke on Thursday, less than a week after its service

I have no expectations and I'll settle for a good game, no stupid penalties and no injuries. A bit of the old flair would be a bonus.

[Neils]

Facebook just come up with - 6 years ago in Toulon watching Wasps!

[Heathen]

Morning all from a grey and very chilly S Bucks.

Like many, I have no great expectations about this game.

Lee may as well give them the same instructions that he did for the second half last season. Just play with freedom and enjoy it.

One thing for sure, I have given up getting stressed out watching us play!

I shall watch the game on C4, just to get Jack’s thoughts on it.

#COYW

[mike909]

Late to the game - spent morning removing downstairs loo.....plumbing fittings were a bit like I think our chances are - a bit stuck, and not looking their best.........but, perhaps we can show our ability to move the ball and cause Clermont some problems

Like many above, I'd hope for a game showing we can play and zero injuries would be a big bonus.

[COYW15]

Think this was posted in one of the Facebook groups - one to wet the appetite from the last meeting with Clermont. https://youtu.be/FHO-FI9t6tE