Isn't it nice to have Wasps rugby back? I am now thoroughly looking forward to having less free time at the weekend
That was a great way to start the season off. Standard disclaimer that Doncaster are just a very decent Championship side who are also in pre-season so we should very much expect to beat them, but...
Three biggest positivesOur D - Caveat as above but to go anywhere and 'nil' a side is a good achievement. Donny put us under pressure a few times and especially at the end and our defence stood firm each time. We were without many of our better breakdown operators (Jack, Gabe, Alfie and Lauch) yet still went hard, were disruptive and reasonably disciplined.
Set piece/scrum - Line out and maul was good, Cardall coming into his own and went well as caller. The scrum however was imperious: considering Hislop was a weak link at the scrum last year and EM-M is a 4th choice TH playing LH I thought we did really well here and it showed how much pre-season work has gone into it. As West, Martinez and Koch come into contention it should hopefully give us a great platform to attack from.
Minozzi - Such a tough few years for Matteo, arriving as such a bright talent and then facing lockdown in a foreign country, injuries and the eye issue that must have been very frightening, he was a forgotten man. After last night he's put himself in a good position to be our starting 15.
Other positivesCharlie Atkinson - Park the place kicks for now. We know that Charlie has the parts to his game to be an exceptional fly-half, he just needs to put them all together on a consistent basis. He looked full of confidence, excellent decision making, good kick for Josh. An lot to like. This is the first season he's starting as our first choice 10, I'm really hoping he shows how good he can be and stays at that level.
Scrum halves - It's a shame Sam is out for a few months but Dan and Will both had good games. Porter came of age last year and I'm hoping that he builds on that again this year. Dan looked awesome though; he seems to have developed into such an intelligent player who makes good decisions. It's going to be good to see them push each other all season.
Ryan Mills - He didn't have a stand out game. In fact when he was playing 10 there was a lot of variation in first receiver but he played most of the game and it was great to see him out there and looking fit. I think he has a lot to do to win fans over after the troubles he has had but he put his hand up to paly a position he hasn't played for a good few years and managed it well and I think he will be an important part of the squad this year.
ImprovementsPlace kicking - Obviously. We left 14 points out there. Admittedly there were some tough kicks but we need our kicker to be at least 70%+, ideally 75%+. Needs work, probably needs a dedicated kicking coach.
Handling - Yes, pre-season but still a few too many little errors. Forwards need to be able to pass and catch or attacks break down. Better than a lot of last year but still a bit of work.
Always a Wasp
