Always a Wasp

A surprise result after the run of form Scotland have been enjoying recently.  Did they mess it up?  Or are Fiji a team on the rise?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/40390911

If you're already struggling with the off season then this should cheer you up.

Highlights of the Valentines Day Massacre

Are these the signings Tigers were waiting for their team's season to finish to announce?

http://www.premiershiprugby.com/news/tigers-bring-in-duo-from-championship-finalists/

http://www.punditarena.com/rugby/smcmahon/eddie-jones-blunt-christian-wade-england-omission/

It sounds very much like EJ doesn't like Wade and isn't willing to consider working with him.  I've lost a lot of respect for Jones over this.  Whatever his personal feelings the justifications he gives are clearly just as applicable to people he is perfectly willing to pick.

So we're losing Beale, Lieua, and Halai from the backs.  We know we've signed Gaby Lovobalavu who is great, and rumour has it that Juan de Jongh is coming too so I don't think we're too far off the pace for next season assuming the later proves to be true.

But what about the forwards?  I struggle with our props.  I understand that there is always a compromise to be made between powerful scrummagers who can dominate the opposition, and fast mobile forwards who can play the style of rugby we do, but have we slid slightly too far to one side of the compromise?  We're losing Swainston, and JCW has been injured a lot.  Would a big lump of a Tight Head be a good signing?  Is it my imagination or has Moore not quite lived up to his reputation.  I expected an experienced tier 1 international prop to rapidly become our first choice and that honour clearly lies with JCW.  When Citts left the two of them were pretty much equal, and it seems that Moore is not quite up there.  Will that change with another year of settling in?

How about Loose Head?  Mullan is one of the best open play props in the world.  He is freakishly fast, and plays more like another back row.  But I'd say he suffers in the scrum.  Chesty is more solid and stronger, but not as quick.  Do we need another?

As to the back row it's hard to see we need more, Youngyoung, Hughes, Haskell, Thompson, Jones, Reider, with Johnson able to cover too seems like a lot of good players, but we coule conceivably lose 4 of them during the international window leaving us only 1 injury away from not coping.  Do we need more?

What do you think?

Peronally I'd love to see a top level old school prop coming in, probably on the tight side, and another back rower.  But who... 

I bought my last Wasps shirt back when we last won the Heiny - A black one with Magners across the front - and I've worn it ever since.  In some ways it is nice to see other people with old shirts on at games, and just around and about.  But I haven't really seen one I liked enough to replace old faithful.  But I said that I would buy a new one regardless of whether I liked them when we next won some silverware.

I'm really hoping that I'll be online buying a new shirt later today...

(Disclaimer - I do have a blue shirt signed by the whole squad which I won't wear not only because of the signatures, but because it is BLUE)

Does anyone have any recommendations for ways to watch the game without signing up to BT Sport?

I have previously used Bet365 as it only requires a fiver in the kitty, but it doesn't show all the games, and you can't get a full screen view.

I'm really pleased to see the club getting behind this.  Such a shame to see one of our own suffer such bad luck.

http://wasps.co.uk/news/article/2017/05/12/matt-hampson-foundation-to-sponsor-wasps-semi-final-against-leicester-tigers