Wasps v Gloucester: Post match thoughts.

[Wombles]

Right result

Lacking control when it mattered

Midfield selection did not work.

Well we looked full of energy, nearly undeservedly stole the game, and it was great to see Alfie back. But that is where the positives end tonight. But our near last minute turnaround should not hide how inaccurate and disorganised we were for a large majority of the game. Yes we had a 9 on the wing and a wing at 13, but the midfield of Josh and Booj did not work, and so much went through those channels that we lost metres, position and points. Booj is a good squad man, but he was awful tonight in everything he did. It pains me to say it but we will not win anything with him in the centres, although he has improved over the seasons, it is not enough. Tonight required his leadership, he is a centre,  and his experience was needed to help guide Josh, but he went awol, and it ultimately cost us. We were left chasing the game from a distance and never had enough.

Jacob also made far too many errors, he is still too much good, great, poor and befuddling. He HAS to start becoming more consistently high performing. He has the talent and ability, he needs to start putting it all together now, that is his greatest challenge, and where his career trajectory will be decided.

As a collective as well we seem to be missing that leadership and control, that certain TCUP skill that top teams have when in the middle of battle. As the game became more unstructured we became more chaotic, our defence was poor tonight, and -maul aside- we struggled too much in the scrum.

We need to be better than this, and we now need to hang on until more players return. 

Chris

Once a Wasp ALWAYS a Wasp.

[Raggs]

Booj is solid enough when he has a senior paired with him, he can't be the guy to carry it, and that's what we needed with Bassett at 13.

It was a disjointed side, and looked even worse for the 2 weeks break. I think we settle again as we gain continuity (hopefully).

[Covkid40]

Some people need to take a long hard look at themselves. I think umaga is lucky Atkinson is injured. Unfortunately I think Jacob is one of those players that will drift out of top flight rugby, for all is moments of brilliance his basics are just not good enough we get 20% brilliant 40% ok and 40% rubbish and that’s doesn’t stack up for a top flight player.

[HDAWG]

Booj is a good squad man, but he was awful tonight in everything he did. It pains me to say it but we will not win anything with him in the centres, although he has improved over the seasons, it is not enough. Tonight required his leadership, he is a centre,  and his experience was needed to help guide Josh, but he went awol, and it ultimately cost us. We were left chasing the game from a distance and never had enough.

Jacob also made far too many errors, he is still too much good, great, poor and befuddling. He HAS to start becoming more consistently high performing. He has the talent and ability, he needs to start putting it all together now, that is his greatest challenge, and where his career trajectory will be decided.

I disagree with comments on Booj. I slated him in his first 2 seasons, but the last couple he's been quietly very reliable. Obviously not as good as Mills + Fekitoa, but still really good. One bad performance isn't indicative of his current ability.

Whereas with Jacob, he's been like this ever since his breakthrough season. I know  there are theories that it's Eddie's/England's fault, but think he's the spiritual successor to Cips in every aspect. Dude is a coin toss in everything he does lately and it's really bad. I hope he grows out of it as he is still young, but Marcus Smith he ain't. Jury still out on Atkinson as well...

[Chunky24]

Some people need to take a long hard look at themselves. I think umaga is lucky Atkinson is injured. Unfortunately I think Jacob is one of those players that will drift out of top flight rugby, for all is moments of brilliance his basics are just not good enough we get 20% brilliant 40% ok and 40% rubbish and that’s doesn’t stack up for a top flight player.

He hasn't played with a consistent back line for a couple of seasons now yet is still expected to produce worldie tries out them by the supporters every game, you are going to get that mix if that is the situation and expectation.

[Steve from Cov]

Jacob has all the skills to make a top 10 but he needs to lose the brain farts.

Booj and Bassett offered next to nothing apart from huge gaps and feeble tackling.

Hugely disappointing.

[HDAWG]

Some people need to take a long hard look at themselves. I think umaga is lucky Atkinson is injured. Unfortunately I think Jacob is one of those players that will drift out of top flight rugby, for all is moments of brilliance his basics are just not good enough we get 20% brilliant 40% ok and 40% rubbish and that’s doesn’t stack up for a top flight player.

He hasn't played with a consistent back line for a couple of seasons now yet is still expected to produce worldie tries out them by the supporters every game, you are going to get that mix if that is the situation and expectation.

Jacobs game management and kicking is mixed too, not necessarily always related to who he plays with. I get what you're saying when it's stringing things together. But it's also his decision making.

[Bloke in North Dorset]

I don’t buy the argument that if we’d won it would have been undeserved.

The last 30 minutes are just as important, if not more so, than the first 30 minutes.  We had a quickly rearranged team that slowly got themselves back in to the match, against all the odds.  At the end they we’re doing all they could to slow the game down and we’re clearly rattled. 

[Rossm]

I don’t buy the argument that if we’d won it would have been undeserved.

The last 30 minutes are just as important, if not more so, than the first 30 minutes.  We had a quickly rearranged team that slowly got themselves back in to the match, against all the odds.  At the end they we’re doing all they could to slow the game down and we’re clearly rattled.

I quite agree. I'll always take the win. To hell with it being undeserved.

[Wombles]

Sometimes though a victory such as that can paper over cracks and turn the attention away from fixing a deeper problem. You can sometimes learn more from defeat than in victory.

Injuries are still a blight on our season, but it is our lack of control that concerns me. Throughout tonight can anyone truly say they felt comfortable watching us go through the phases? The passes were regularly awkward or unsympathetic, our ruck control was shaky. You could see that through the way the players ran laterally with ball in hand and in support that there was little communication or understanding between one another. It looked awkward, it felt awkward and it was awkward, and that is why moves broke down, we were turned over or knocked on so often.

For the life of me I could not really see what we were trying to achieve tonight, what the game plan or our style was, I’m not sure the players really knew as well. Cohesion, communication and understanding is so important in our sport, and we cannot achieve anything until every player in the entire squad has that.

[Covkid40]

Some people need to take a long hard look at themselves. I think umaga is lucky Atkinson is injured. Unfortunately I think Jacob is one of those players that will drift out of top flight rugby, for all is moments of brilliance his basics are just not good enough we get 20% brilliant 40% ok and 40% rubbish and that’s doesn’t stack up for a top flight player.

He hasn't played with a consistent back line for a couple of seasons now yet is still expected to produce worldie tries out them by the supporters every game, you are going to get that mix if that is the situation and expectation.

Nobody is expecting him to create worldie try’s every game. What I do expect is my number 10 to control a game and do the basics right and unfortunately most of the time Jacob doesn’t do that and that has nothing to do with who he’s playing with, knock ons, aimless kicks and weak under a high ball when challenged is all down to him and nothing to do with his team mates

[Wombles]

Booj is a good squad man, but he was awful tonight in everything he did. It pains me to say it but we will not win anything with him in the centres, although he has improved over the seasons, it is not enough. Tonight required his leadership, he is a centre,  and his experience was needed to help guide Josh, but he went awol, and it ultimately cost us. We were left chasing the game from a distance and never had enough.

Jacob also made far too many errors, he is still too much good, great, poor and befuddling. He HAS to start becoming more consistently high performing. He has the talent and ability, he needs to start putting it all together now, that is his greatest challenge, and where his career trajectory will be decided.

I disagree with comments on Booj. I slated him in his first 2 seasons, but the last couple he's been quietly very reliable. Obviously not as good as Mills + Fekitoa, but still really good. One bad performance isn't indicative of his current ability.

Whereas with Jacob, he's been like this ever since his breakthrough season. I know  there are theories that it's Eddie's/England's fault, but think he's the spiritual successor to Cips in every aspect. Dude is a coin toss in everything he does lately and it's really bad. I hope he grows out of it as he is still young, but Marcus Smith he ain't. Jury still out on Atkinson as well...

The thing with Booj is that although I agree with you that he has improved, it is not enough. You can see in fast games that his mind is half a step behind what is going on. To often he takes contact when he should pass, and conversely tries to force a pass when he should take contact. His defence is also questionable. Tonight he was horribly exposed, It was the centre paring that ultimately cost us the game as so much went through his and Josh’s channel. Booj has been with us long enough now to be senior enough to be supporting and leading younger players and those playing out of position. He should now be able to lead rather than be led. And with his experience he should of stepped up tonight to organise and lead the defensive line and support Josh and Jacob...He failed on all counts and his game fell apart.

[hopwood]

Telegraph report


Gloucester survived a furious comeback from Wasps who were insipid for the first three quarters of this match and inspired for the final 20 minutes.

Jack Clement’s try on 65 minutes secured Gloucester a try bonus point and seemingly the victory at 35-19. However fired up by the introduction of the returning Alfie Barbeary and veteran Jimmy Gopperth, Wasps picked themselves off the canvas. Fly-half Jacob Umaga scored two converted tries in the closing stages in which Jonny May was yellow carded. Wasps were scenting victory with possession inside Gloucester’s half in injury time but Umaga knocked on to leave the home team with a pair of bonus points.

Gloucester have now lost just one of their last six league matches and are sneaking up on the rails in the Premiership. Billy Twelvetrees looked like the player who burst on to the scene with England many moons ago in scoring two tries. Adam Hastings, who finished with 15 points, guided everything from the armchair ride provided to him by the Gloucester pack. The Eastern European prop pairing of Val Rapava-Raskin and Kirill Gotovtsev are going to do damage to a fair few scrums this season.

Wasps’ results, meanwhile, are almost as patchy as their attendances in the 32,000 seater Coventry Building Society. Freezing conditions do not help but neither does a run of one victory in seven games.

True Wasps have probably the longest injury list of any team in the Premiership and key players such as Joe Launchbury, Jack Willis and Dan Robson. That was no excuse, however, for a defence was as flimsy as tissue paper with Gloucester slicing them apart at will. It is one thing to get beaten by the jet-heeled Jonny May and Ollie Thorley but it is quite another when it is 18 stone flanker Freddie Clarke who is leaving defenders trailing in his wake.

After a slew of knock ons from both teams, Hastings finally produced a moment of class when he took advantage of a static Wasps kick chase to chip over the top and gather. In truth Hastings rather botched his pass but although Wasps scrambled back, Gloucester still struck. May came in at scrum half and dummied his way over.

Hastings added a conversion and a pair of penalties and suddenly Wasps were in a 13-0 hole. They started their ascent from that pit with an old-school lineout move. Elliott Stooke won clean lineout ball off the top and fired it down to Thomas Young who powered through the middle of Gloucester’s discombulated maul defence.

Yet the step forward was soon matched by one in the opposite direction. If the first try was disappointing for the defence the second could result in a court martial. From a scrum just inside the Wasps half, Gloucester scrum half Ben Meehan fired a long pass to Mark Atkinson who in turn gave an inside ball to centre partner Billy Twelvetrees who ran in untouched from 40 metres. Even accounting for the patched up backline with wing Josh Bassett starting at outside centre and scrum half Francois Hougaard on the wing, it was an ugly first-phase try to concede.

Wasps were again on their heels as Clarke broke through the middle and only a stunning tackle by Hougaard on May prevented a third try. Hastings, however, was able to kick his third penalty to take Gloucester out to 23-5.

The home side desperately needed a score before halftime and they got it, again through the maul, hooker Gabriel Oghre just about squeezing over in the corner. Yet any lingering hopes of a comeback were snuffed out on the 50 minute mark. This time it was Gloucester who turned the screw at the maul and with penalty advantage Meehan turned to a familiar combination. Atkinson this time relied on a cute back of the hand pass to set Twelvetrees motoring, who carried two defenders over the line with him.

Barbeary then powered over within three minutes of his first appearance of the season and although Clement’s score seemed to wrap victory for Gloucester there proved to be a grandstand finish 

[Shugs]

Agree with much of your analysis Wombles. Let’s set aside all of the drawn out mitigating items. That, was quite simply, awful. Le Bourgeois had a nightmare, Minozzi was close behind, but most importantly Umaga was simply shocking. Difficult to know where to begin but we must not let the final score sugar coat how abject and worrying that was. It was shocking.

[Heathen]

First visit to a game this season. Interesting to see the changes/ongoing developments at the stadium. It will be some place when it's finished.

To the match itself. I guess 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' just about sums it up for me.

Most of it has already been written in the match thread and also in the previous posts on this one. I was almost believing that a second miracle result could happen aka the Irish away game last season.

Squad depletion is the biggest issue for us. No more so than in the centre. Apparently the reason that McHenry did not play tonight is that Munster will not allow him to play against them in the HC. Lee wanted to try Josh and Booj as an option. Clearly did not work. When Jimmy came on it tightened up a lot.

Good to see Alfie back and fit. Looks to be excellent shape.

Two of their three converted penalties had a tad of misfortune attched to them.

Brad's tank look as though it needs recharging. Given that he has played 25 out of the last 26 league games, it is no surprise.

At the end of the day, 2 points is certainly better than none and we outscored them 5 tries to 4.

Finally, take a bow Luke Pearce. Impressive performance.