Always a Wasp
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46
Wasps Rugby Discussion / An Open Letter to Dai
« on: February 18, 2020, 05:39:32 PM »
http://onceawasp.com/an-open-letter-to-david-young/
I'm really sad to see him go, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited about the future.
I'm really sad to see him go, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited about the future.
47
Wasps Rugby Discussion / I just despair
« on: February 15, 2020, 05:02:25 PM »
We play like we've never met, we knock on constantly, if there is a wrong decision we are guaranteed to make it, the ref ignores blatant fouls against us and we play like we simply don't care.
It wasn't this hard to support Wasps when we were staring relegation in the face and bringing ex players out of retirement to sit on the bench so we could actually field a team.
I'm not sure how long it can go on like this.
It wasn't this hard to support Wasps when we were staring relegation in the face and bringing ex players out of retirement to sit on the bench so we could actually field a team.
I'm not sure how long it can go on like this.
48
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Ashton speaks
« on: January 27, 2020, 10:41:49 PM »
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/51272146
So my take is he did this in 2014, at which point St Nigel had already done similar with a number of players...
So my take is he did this in 2014, at which point St Nigel had already done similar with a number of players...
49
Wasps Rugby Discussion / 2020 Donations to keep the forum running
« on: January 27, 2020, 04:10:59 PM »
Hi!
The forum has been getting more and more popular and it is coming up on a year since we had the issues with hosting and so many of you kindly donated to help with the running costs.
With this in mind I am asking if you could help spare a few pounds to go towards the hosting costs again.
I want to stress that it is in no way compulsory, nor will you miss out on anything by not donating. This site is free for everyone, and will continue to be so for the forseeable future.
I have been unable to remove the option to display donations, but please don't feel you have to add your name.
If you don't want to donate for any reason at all that is absolutely fine, but if you use an adblocker I would appreciate you making this site an exception.
You can access the dontaion page either here or by clicking the link in the menu bar on the left.
Thanks very much for making this site an awesome place to be.
The forum has been getting more and more popular and it is coming up on a year since we had the issues with hosting and so many of you kindly donated to help with the running costs.
With this in mind I am asking if you could help spare a few pounds to go towards the hosting costs again.
I want to stress that it is in no way compulsory, nor will you miss out on anything by not donating. This site is free for everyone, and will continue to be so for the forseeable future.
I have been unable to remove the option to display donations, but please don't feel you have to add your name.
If you don't want to donate for any reason at all that is absolutely fine, but if you use an adblocker I would appreciate you making this site an exception.
You can access the dontaion page either here or by clicking the link in the menu bar on the left.
Thanks very much for making this site an awesome place to be.
50
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Still angry
« on: January 26, 2020, 11:41:27 AM »
i am still fuming and so figured it might work as therapy to write my thoughts down into an article.
I'm not sure I'm any less cross...
http://onceawasp.com/for-the-good-of-rugby/
I'm not sure I'm any less cross...
http://onceawasp.com/for-the-good-of-rugby/
51
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Agen match thread
« on: January 11, 2020, 02:10:35 PM »
Managed to get the stream working on my tv, so settling down a few minutes late to watch this.
Looks like I already missed a fair bit of action.
Looks like I already missed a fair bit of action.
52
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Haskell feeling ignored
« on: January 11, 2020, 07:47:25 AM »
https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/rugby/james-haskell-wasps-rugby-news-17543509
I've been extremely lucky enough to be able to see behind the scemes in the players lounge a few times on Match day. It was fascinating to see which players sat together, who was there despite being injured. Who took time to speak to the fans and who didn't bother.
Hask never even showed up. I queried it as I really wanted to meet him the first time and was told he normally just does his own thing.
Add that to the fairly blatant shit stirring he did towards the end of his time with us and it isn't surprising at all few people at the club have a connection with him.
I've been extremely lucky enough to be able to see behind the scemes in the players lounge a few times on Match day. It was fascinating to see which players sat together, who was there despite being injured. Who took time to speak to the fans and who didn't bother.
Hask never even showed up. I queried it as I really wanted to meet him the first time and was told he normally just does his own thing.
Add that to the fairly blatant shit stirring he did towards the end of his time with us and it isn't surprising at all few people at the club have a connection with him.
53
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Saints Match Thread
« on: January 05, 2020, 03:16:47 PM »
We're doing ok, but Saints are illegally slowing the ball down constantly and they are getting away with it.
54
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Is our attack really the issue?
« on: December 24, 2019, 02:36:52 PM »
Something Nelly mentioned in the "How Many" thread got me thinking. In essence it was that currently our set piece and defence has improved improved to the point where the issue is our attack.
I'm not convinced I agree, so I'd like to propose a different theory.
I'm going to start with a fairly big jump to an analogy.
A lot of you know I have been heavily involved in combat sports for a long time firstly as a competitor (average at best) and then as a coach (marginally better). Mixed Martial Arts (Cage fighting/UFC) to most people consists of two disciplines, striking and grappling otherwise known as stand-up and ground fighting. To the very best it actually consists of three, the former two, with the addition of wrestling. Wreslting is what bridges the other two and allows them to work together to create an effective fighter. I won't go into detail, but all the most successful fighters have a background in wrestling along with other things.
One thing you often see is that a fighter breaks into the big time by being an extremely gifted grappler. It's easy to dominate the lower leagues with a high evel of skill in grappling, but as they progress up the ranking they need to add effective striking to their arsenal.
They employ a specialist striking coach.
They raidly progress and gain a decent level of skill to their striking, but they lose all their ability as a grappler because they have no way to connect the two disciplines. They find themselves competing in stand-up against specialists who are much better at it than they are, and they have no way to transition to the grappling which would see them win.
I believe this is exactly what has happened with Wasps.
We had a great attacking game, we could do things that other teams could only dream of. Whether it was with Jackson, Gopps, or Cips at 10 we were a genuine joy to watch. Our defence sucked, but we didn't care because we just scored more tries and won anyway.
We lost our defence coach who wasn't brilliant, but had learned to work around out attacking structures, and brought in a new coach.
I believe Costello is a perfectly servicable defence coach, after all our defence is definitely more solid now than it has been for some time. But I feel he has not been able to link his defensive structures with our attack, and has inadvertently killed our ability to score.
To go back to my analogy, what we need is the wrestling coach.
We need someone who can create the bridge between defence and attack and allow us to do whichever is appropriate.
This is something we have struggled with for a long time, and I feel this is where Dai's weakness is. I suspect he currently fulfils this role, and while he is doing his best, he absolutely needs to get someone in who is a specialist.
I don't think we need rid of him, to be honest I think the idea is preposterous. We wouldn't have a club without him. But I honestly believe the board of Wasps is doing him a massive disservice by allowing him to carry the can for the fact our coaching team is short an experienced person who understands both aspects of the game, and how to link them.
That's what we need, and until we get them we will continue to fail.
I'm not convinced I agree, so I'd like to propose a different theory.
I'm going to start with a fairly big jump to an analogy.
A lot of you know I have been heavily involved in combat sports for a long time firstly as a competitor (average at best) and then as a coach (marginally better). Mixed Martial Arts (Cage fighting/UFC) to most people consists of two disciplines, striking and grappling otherwise known as stand-up and ground fighting. To the very best it actually consists of three, the former two, with the addition of wrestling. Wreslting is what bridges the other two and allows them to work together to create an effective fighter. I won't go into detail, but all the most successful fighters have a background in wrestling along with other things.
One thing you often see is that a fighter breaks into the big time by being an extremely gifted grappler. It's easy to dominate the lower leagues with a high evel of skill in grappling, but as they progress up the ranking they need to add effective striking to their arsenal.
They employ a specialist striking coach.
They raidly progress and gain a decent level of skill to their striking, but they lose all their ability as a grappler because they have no way to connect the two disciplines. They find themselves competing in stand-up against specialists who are much better at it than they are, and they have no way to transition to the grappling which would see them win.
I believe this is exactly what has happened with Wasps.
We had a great attacking game, we could do things that other teams could only dream of. Whether it was with Jackson, Gopps, or Cips at 10 we were a genuine joy to watch. Our defence sucked, but we didn't care because we just scored more tries and won anyway.
We lost our defence coach who wasn't brilliant, but had learned to work around out attacking structures, and brought in a new coach.
I believe Costello is a perfectly servicable defence coach, after all our defence is definitely more solid now than it has been for some time. But I feel he has not been able to link his defensive structures with our attack, and has inadvertently killed our ability to score.
To go back to my analogy, what we need is the wrestling coach.
We need someone who can create the bridge between defence and attack and allow us to do whichever is appropriate.
This is something we have struggled with for a long time, and I feel this is where Dai's weakness is. I suspect he currently fulfils this role, and while he is doing his best, he absolutely needs to get someone in who is a specialist.
I don't think we need rid of him, to be honest I think the idea is preposterous. We wouldn't have a club without him. But I honestly believe the board of Wasps is doing him a massive disservice by allowing him to carry the can for the fact our coaching team is short an experienced person who understands both aspects of the game, and how to link them.
That's what we need, and until we get them we will continue to fail.
55
Wasps Rugby Discussion / How many?
« on: December 24, 2019, 11:24:42 AM »
Like many of you, I suspect, I have been thinking a lot about our current inability to win.
When one player is failing to hit the level of ability we know they have we simply say they are out of form. But when enough of them do it to affect the entire team we say the coaches are failing.
So I have a few questions.
How many players being out of form means it is no longer their own fault but that of the DoR?
And how many players need to be out of form to drag the team down?
Who are those players for us currently?
When one player is failing to hit the level of ability we know they have we simply say they are out of form. But when enough of them do it to affect the entire team we say the coaches are failing.
So I have a few questions.
How many players being out of form means it is no longer their own fault but that of the DoR?
And how many players need to be out of form to drag the team down?
Who are those players for us currently?
56
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Happy Christmas Everyone!
« on: December 24, 2019, 08:24:59 AM »
It's been a tough year to be a Wasps fan, but for me this place has been a big positive.
To have somewhere where people are generally positive, optimisitic, and friendly has been amazing. Yes we don't all agree on things, but even when we disagree things have been civil and respectful.
So I wanted to say thanks.
You lot rock, and make me proud to be a Wasp.
Have an amazing Christmas one and all. Here's to a wildly successful 2020!
To have somewhere where people are generally positive, optimisitic, and friendly has been amazing. Yes we don't all agree on things, but even when we disagree things have been civil and respectful.
So I wanted to say thanks.
You lot rock, and make me proud to be a Wasp.
Have an amazing Christmas one and all. Here's to a wildly successful 2020!
57
Wasps Rugby Discussion / We all need cheering up right now
« on: December 23, 2019, 03:23:50 PM »
And so this thread is for wonderful things we have done. Feel free to post links to your favourite moments.
I'll get things going with the Valentine's day massacre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN-JWQkpKPI
I'll get things going with the Valentine's day massacre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN-JWQkpKPI
58
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Match Thread - Quins
« on: December 21, 2019, 03:11:03 PM »
We've maintained a bit of pressure and Jacob scored a penalty.
3-0
3-0
59
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Who do you want to know more about?
« on: December 16, 2019, 06:03:20 PM »
If you could find out the backstory of anyone at Wasps who would it be?
60
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Rumours of a merger
« on: December 16, 2019, 09:22:41 AM »
Some rumours seem to be doing the rounds about us potentially merging with another Midlands based team before next season.
Anyone heard anything?
Anyone heard anything?