Always a Wasp

Groundhog Day

Wide channels wide open

TCUP MIA

First up, well done Saints. Played the full 80, had one chance to win it and did so. When they started running hard and straight in the wide channels with runners on the shoulders to take the offload we crumbled. Indeed when we went down to 14 if it were not for a pass not given or knock on with a hole in our defensive line then their win would of been more comfortable.

Us, well despite throwing away leads being a recurring theme for us now we do like to find new ways to do it. 8 points clear with less than 3 minutes to go should be a win 99.9% of the time. Yet our defensive shape fell apart and our intensity disappeared. We got what we deserved.

Their was however good moments, Willis was immense. Oedendaal and Mills have potential as a centre paring (yet they need to switch positions). Atkinson composed, McDonald is stepping up well, even though he needs to learn that knock on under no pressure from kick offs will be punished.

But this is 2 points snatched from a possible 5. Maybe it will not matter in a couple of weeks, equally maybe it will if we survive. It is moments like this, second half’s like Gloucester and Bristol that cost you and make top 4
Fanciful, too 6 unlikely and bottom 4 deserved.

My heart goes out to Biyi as at the end he looked heartbroken, sitting directly behind where he was leaning against the post it was hard to watch, but heartening that he cares about this club and his team so clearly!

Lee et al needs to sort this…..and soon.

Chris

Once a Wasp ALWAYS a Wasp!

Problem is Cody we just do not know. There are lots of reported cases, a english speaking person speaking Welsh post stroke, an American speaking Spanish transiently post a head injury. Some theories suggest it is a form of aphasia due to neurological damage where you cannot speak the language you know. However it does not account for how she speaks a language she never previously learnt. Some people theorise that it incorporates a well known condition called foreign accent syndrome, a well known case is a Norwegian person from world war 2 developing a German accent after a shrapnel injury. However some theorise that as the formation of speech is a precise co-ordination of multiple body parts that any change to this will change accent, tone, pace and inflection which could ‘mimic’ another accent purely by happenstance.

 Some say the second language simply sounds fluent to a non speaker of that language but is simply the accent and heavily error ridden when translated. However this does not account for the English speaker who developed Welsh (which his Welsh speaking wife translated accurately). And my previous patient who spoke fluent French as it was formally assessed and proved as such.

There is a condition called Hyperthymesia where you can remember consciously every detail of your entire life, however some areas of psychological dispute this. The ‘we only use 10% of our 100 billion neurones at any time’ has pretty much been disproved now. But if the brain can ‘file and store’ subconsciously every experience, and all it needs is the correct ‘key’ to access it and return it to the conscious - think of a smell reminding you of something long forgotten such as a autumn morning fresh air catapulting you back to your walk to first school decades previously. Or freshly baked bread reminding you of a specific breakfast with your family 50 years ago - then the husband with a Welsh speaking wife may of subconsciously learnt Welsh and the rewiring from the stroke (aphasia) worked as the ‘key’ to access all the Welsh words and language he never knew he could speak. Yet this does not explain my patient who’s family asserted that she never had any French lessons at school, never watched a French dubbed film and never left the UK during her life. As much as we like to state facts and generate theories it is cases such as hers that show how little we really know and how much we have yet to learn.

It is fascinating Heathen, and we have barely scraped the surface in our understanding of the human brain….although -ridiculously some might say- one of the most striking things to me was how heavy the brain is! With all the complexity of the working of the brain, the fact we have ‘mapped’ it, yet we still have not truly understood it’s true potential. It was when I held one in the anatomy lab at med school it made my arms ache after a few minutes (mad isn’t it). Also it is certain events that fascinate me. An example is a previous patient of mine who had a stroke and now speaks fluent French, yet never learnt it at all throughout her life and did not know a word prior to this event!

Glass half full and half empty is an acquired skill. Some may learn it through their family as they grow (the blank slate theory). Some may be born with it, some develop it through teaching, making that conscious response to see things in a positive light (trait v state). From this you form neuronal connections that allow a more positive response. If it is a learnt behaviour, at first it takes a little longer to reach that outcome. Using the car analogy it is like taking your journey through the A and B roads. It will take longer, will need more active thought to navigate through, towns, junctions, roadworks, traffic lights, but you get to your desired destination. With the following journeys that little easier as you know when to leave, what short cuts to take to make your journey less troublesome.

My glass half full approach came not as a practitioner treating people, but as a patient. I became unwell with generalised anxiety disorder and moderate/severe post traumatic stress disorder by working in emergency medicine. My psychotherapist had to teach me this skill, and it is one I focus really hard on as it can bring true joy to, not just your life, but others around you (even if you get the ‘he’s always so positive’ jibe now and then). I still fall back a little, like before our recent game against Bath, where my worry for the club clouded my excitement of the game. But with positivity comes perspective, and to enjoy what you can. The wife and I will be at the CBS this weekend, and I truly hope our clubs outcome is good, but I will cheer the lads on for the full 80 as we have a league to try to win! 

Does this start to make things complicated? I’m all for those involved at Wuss gaining employment but how does this loan work? Does it give Bath an unfair advantage? What if Wuss are reinstated? It’s one hell of a mess. Some teams have taken points from Wuss - do they keep them?

If Bath have gained these players then they must have room under the cap to incorporate their wages. If not it makes a mockery of the cap and gives them an unfair advantage.

Forwards overpowered and naive. Old adage forwards win you games once more coming to the fore. Backs started well but as the Leicester defence worked out that they were trying to run to the wings and get through there they could not adjust what they were doing this posed far less threat second forty.

Lesson for them all.

Another weekend of rugby action has passed, tries rained down, previously thought ‘comfortable’ half time leads are anything but. The confusion of what is a forward pass once again reigns supreme. Yet thoughts are more focused on bigger issues. We find out today if Worcester can continue whilst we ourselves stand at the foot of the guillotine wondering whether we will be called up to place our head on the chopping block, or whether a 11th hour reprieve arrives.

To say rugby is at a crossroads in England is an accurate assessment. It is well known the financial difficulties abound through every team. Half the league could easily have the same issues as ourselves and Worcester. At least 4 more are kept afloat on the back of wealthy benefactors. However like the scorpion and the frog, it only takes one sting from their business owners and they too will flounder in rugby’s waters. I have read with interest supporters from other clubs views that more teams falling by the wayside will lead to a better product. Even a certain journalists assertion that 2 Welsh teams joining the league could enrich its standing is seen as a positive. Yet such thoughts are a fallacy. Would these posters feel the same if their clubs stood as we do now? Unlikely. Would harvesting and harming another leagues teams to replace our own losses do anything to increase the credibility and desirability of our own? Even less so. The professional era was presented as a wonderful step forward. We -shamefully- turned our eyes from historical teams suffering. Coventry, Orel, Blackheath, Richmond, Waterloo fell or regressed. Even recent discomfort felt as London Welsh came and went was hidden by Exeter’s emergence. Our Emperor’s PRL and RFU tried to redress the problems. But their lack of support both monetarily and practically to the  Championship and rugby pyramid meant even the most glamorous  dressed up ideas from them could not hold. Well the clothes are now off, the Emperors naked and only decisions of value and integrity can change the outcomes we and the game are facing.

So this Monday morning let us celebrate the rugby on the field, whatever problems it has it is still something that unites us all. But Coventry rugby said it best, no matter our allegiances and club, we are brothers and sisters in the same rugby family. No one should hope for teams to fail, or to find it as a positive as long as their team survives. Pull the ladder up Jack and sod the rest is why we are where we are today.

I hope Worcester survive with all my heart, for their players, their employees, their fans -our brothers and sisters- and for the game as a whole.

Chris

Once a Wasp ALWAYS a Wasp.

Substitutions need to strengthen performance not undermine it. Another reason the time has come to markedly reduce substitutions and create a 80 minute player.

The good, the bad and the lucky

Will the monkey off our back finally stop these second forty performances?

Enjoy the win, do not ignore the frailties.

You know what they say, 29 points is a shaky old lead in rugby. They like to keep us on tenterhooks. Once again it is a Jekyll and Hyde performance. 5 point away wins are not to be sniffed at, but we cannot keep doing what we are doing in second halves. Is it tactics? Is it psychological? Is it a combination…..possibly.

Let’s hope though that this is the start of better days, that in 2 weeks we have a club to continue loving and supporting.

Get the beers out boys.

Chris

Once A Wasp ALWAYS a Wasp.