BB Ratings

[westwaleswasp]

I thought our second row were very honest and put in a solid shift, perhaps they were a half point or so lower on the BB ratings than I would have expected. Got to say some players definitely impressed in trying circumstances.
If we can snag a win next week then the rotations will look very positive. 

[welsh wasp]

Well, we did much better than Bath last week and with some very inexperienced players (not intended as critical of them). A pity we didn't keep them under 50 points.
Goppert deserved to be MoM. An incredible performance from him in all aspects of play.

[WonkyWasp]

Plus 1 - especially about St. Jimmy.

[Vespula Vulgaris]

Well, we did much better than Bath last week

Actually we didn't do much better than Bath.

Baths score was 13% higher than ours. If we apply that 13% to Sarries score too it makes it 64.

So we did exactly 1 converted try better than Bath.

[Covkid40]

Millar-Mills tackle count was phenomenal but his set piece was dodgy. Ok, he was alongside a rookie hooker and against an international front row. Regards Scholtz time will tell. He was definitely out on his feet which was a bit worrying. But we do have JTA, EMM and Alo - who I thought was good v Bristol.

Alo’s omission from the match day 23 really puzzled me. The guy is fit & injury-free yet we decided to go with two ‘novices’ in Millar-Mills & Scholtz. He clearly didn’t need to rest given his lack of game this season (50 minutes in total), so you’d think was a shoo-in for the #3 shirt today instead of using two less-experienced props. The only logical explanation is a dip in form during training.

I’m thinking that we will see Alo next week at Bath. He’s returning from injury and why risk him especially as we’ve now lost Harris as well. Much changed side next week at Bath my only concern is that they will win a game sooner or later.

[Covkid40]

Well, we did much better than Bath last week

Actually we didn't do much better than Bath.

Baths score was 13% higher than ours. If we apply that 13% to Sarries score too it makes it 64.

So we did exactly 1 converted try better than Bath.

The big difference is Bath we’re almost at full strength and we played a second/third team. Realistically if we had even a 75% fit squad to pick from how many of the starting 15 would retain there place? 4 maybe 5 with another 3 possibly making the bench. This is no disrespect to the guys that played on Sunday they battled for the whole 80 minutes, constantly put their bodies on the line and you can’t ask for more than that.

[RogerE]

I see that the article has been modified slightly - now has "sign him up" at the end of the Gopps rating.

[Shugs]

Well, we did much better than Bath last week

Actually we didn't do much better than Bath.

Baths score was 13% higher than ours. If we apply that 13% to Sarries score too it makes it 64.

So we did exactly 1 converted try better than Bath.

The big difference is Bath we’re almost at full strength and we played a second/third team. Realistically if we had even a 75% fit squad to pick from how many of the starting 15 would retain there place? 4 maybe 5 with another 3 possibly making the bench. This is no disrespect to the guys that played on Sunday they battled for the whole 80 minutes, constantly put their bodies on the line and you can’t ask for more than that.

And Bath were at home.

[Vespula Vulgaris]

I'm not trying to say we didn't do better than Bath, we clearly did, and our circumstances were pretty poor by comparison.

But the gulf was not a big one, and our circumstances are now even poorer.

We have the best training facilities in the Premiership, we have a squad with some amazing talent in it, and we have owners committed to the long term future of the club.  With that in mind I'd be willing to go on record and say that sitting comfortably in the bottom 4, and being plucky losers against a team put to the sword by London Irish is not something we should be proud of.

How many years do we have to take solace in not letting our heads drop while getting yet another pasting? To use a fighting analogy we are the journeyman fighter who always gives a good showing and has a big heart, maybe even comes close a few times, but ultimately never amounts to anything of significance.

Why is it we can watch Tigers go from being nailed on for relegation to sitting comfortably at the top of the table while we stuff it up yet again?

Why is it we can watch Quins go from a tailspin no-one thought they'd pull out of to winning the title while we look for a second injury replacement to cover the first injury replacement we already signed?

Where is the ambition?  We are Wasps for God's sake.  We might be struggling under the worst luck of any team in the GP right now, but can we please stop pretending these results are ok?

We are racking up injuries faster than anyone else, we are giving needless penalties away by the bucketload, and we are losing games we should be winning comfortably.

I don't know what, but something is seriously wrong, and it needs to change.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

Our loss would not have been marginally as bad if Jimmy had simply taken the decision to call it a day when time was up. Bad thinking on his part. We could not get within 7 points, and could not get 4 tries, so no points were on offer.

Right now, we are a seriously wounded animal, and they wolves are circling. The other 12 teams currently see us as a good meal, to be able to pick up five points from us and a healthy fillip to their points margin. Their game plans will focus on our weak positions, and we have plenty of them. They will plan to hit the players in those positions hard, over and over again. By the time we get to the point that the current long term injured return, the squad will be a wreck, and so their return will be of no real benefit. I can see us having to recruit quite a few more injury replacements, but the available pool is going to be very shallow.

Not a rosy opinion from me I know, but it is where we are. We are going to find out what it is like to be Worcester.

[InBetweenWasp]

I think some of the posts on this thread are pretty OTT.  We're not 'The new Worcestor' nor is everything broken.

Two key things we've often spoken about as fans are needing to improve are our physicality and defence.  Despite yesterdays scoreline, I think we'd all be hard pushed to suggest we hadn't seen significant improvements in both areas in the first 5 games of this season. 

The most telling stat for me was put up yesterday in the pre-match discussions and that was that we're top of the league when it comes to getting into the red zone, but 11th when it comes to converting into points. 

It tells me that, for a change, it's our attack letting us down.  That could be a fundamental issue in how we attack or a personnel issue (i.e. our backs are getting much game time as a unit).  I believe it's the latter.

I think there's only one question that needs answering and working out and that's 'Why have we got, or are getting so many injuries?'.  Injuries have been an ongoing issue the past few seasons.

[Shugs]

I don’t recognise the depiction of us as a club with big problems at all. Our only issue this year is injuries. Infrastructure wise - stadium/training ground/coaching team/playing staff - it’s as strong as it’s been for a very long time. If we’d have gone to Sarries with a normal injury list of 7/8 and not come away with anything I think that would have been disappointing. We are comfortably a top 4 side in my opinion IF we can get some luck with injuries. Why we have so many I just don’t know but I give huge credit to Blackett and his team, plus our backers, who have facilitated the construction of a squad that I’m more excited about than I have been for a long time.