Always a Wasp

Terrible game so far........and I'm absolutely loving it. Great to have rugby back!

Since the announcement that Carr was leaving there has been some talk of us needing a utility back row player to supplement our excellent first up options. Just read that Jamie Gibson has been released by Northampton. I've never seen him have a bad game. He's 29 so not past it by any means but would hit the ground running. Shouldn't break the bank and presumably is relatively local. A possibility?

Trying to mentally assemble next years squad in my head. Does anyone definitively know the contract status of:
Shields
Carr
Morris
Cruse
Zhvania
T Willis
De Jongh
Johnson

I think I'm ok on all the rest coupled with Mills, Edwards, Barbeary and Simonds in.

I think anyone who's seen us over the last three or four games would have to admit it's like watching a totally different team. There was improvement at Bristol and Wuss but things look a lot more free now. Given that has Blackett become the man for the job? Or should we consider the range of applications we have to hand. We look a top 4 side again now and the players are brimming with confidence and playing with smiles. Is it a case of if it's not broken don't try and fix it?

Still digesting last nights wonderful performance. It was like watching a different team. Why? Style of play seemed different as we kicked a lot less and kept ball in hand virtually all the time. But was it for Dai? Was it because he's gone? Was it just one of those games? If we put a couple more games like that in does Blackett come into the frame? Utterly fantastic to watch but also intriguing in almost equal measure as to how and why such a difference was possible.

I don't think anyone would argue the calendar year 2019 has been great for us. However there must be some good things that have happened. Be interesting to see what others have thought. If you had to list three positives from the year what would they be (no negatives allowed)! Mine would be;
1) Emergence, development and additions of academy players to first team squad.
2) The win away at Exeter. A great result, a big relief, Zhvania going over.
3) Announcement of training ground location. A solution to a problem we've had for a while and a decent indicator of stability.

I'm not really one for attaching much relevance to what coaches say to the press but I'm just wondering what underlying, almost subconscious mindset is being fostered at the club. So far this season before the Sale, Glaws and now Briz game Dai has included in his pre match narrative something akin to "it's important to come away from away games with something" referring to lbp's or tbp's. Is this correct? Is this seeping into the players consciousness? Does it tell us how Dai rates his squad? Don't get me wrong, it's wrapped up in the usual "we're going there to win" bits but if it were me I'd just talk about winning.

We're probably all agreed that our next batch of Prem fixtures are going to be absolutely crucial. If we take the next six that takes us to halfway. We face Quins, Saints and Sarries at home and Bristol, Wuss and Tigers away. How many points do we need and how many will we get. I reckon we'll get 5 v Quins, 4 v Saints 0 v Sarries, 1 v Bristol, 4 v Wuss and 4 v Tigers. Very speculative of course but that would give us 18.