London Irish v Wasps: Post Match Thoughts

[Shugs]

No, it’s just for completeness. No impact really.

[Garuda]

Don't forget TCUP. Will Porter forgot it and made a bollocks of a tap penalty that we didn't need to do.

I was assuming at that point Will had come on, not to play a smart team game, but with a mindset to prove he can be as dynamic as Dan. Totally unnecessary.

[Westy68]

That ruck at the end was terrible, I just can’t believe we haven’t learnt from our mistakes.

What’s the point of playing well for just 65 minutes, if you then decide not to bother for the rest of the game.

I really fear for a very disappointing end to the season.

One thing is for sure I think we missed Alfie today. I believe he would have given us some go forward in the last 15 minutes

[Shugs]

I just don’t think T Young needed to come on. Tom Willis had a great game and should have stayed on. He was up to speed and playing well. It wasn’t go forward we needed at the end it was cool heads.

[RogerE]

Just back - brilliant fans and lovely stadium.

Nice to see some old friends who haven't made the switch from Adams Park.

What a match for the neutral! Well done to Irish for nearly doing to us what we did to them, last time we played there.

[Chunky24]

I just don’t think T Young needed to come on. Tom Willis had a great game and should have stayed on. He was up to speed and playing well. It wasn’t go forward we needed at the end it was cool heads.

Most of the the subs bought on are generally up tempo attacking players (Porter, Odogwu, Young, Umaga) rather than pragmatic see the game out players so when it got tight they didn't have the experience or control to revert to that need

[Heathen]

I just don’t think T Young needed to come on. Tom Willis had a great game and should have stayed on. He was up to speed and playing well. It wasn’t go forward we needed at the end it was cool heads.

I must admit that I questioned that call - YY was well off the pace and the physicality. Likewise taking Dobby off.

If Dan and Tom had remained until 10 mins from the end, I think we would have won. We lost control when they went off.

[Egret]

Question for those more knowledgeable than me: What is the point of yellow carding Joe when the clock is in the red? Does that mean he has a 10 minute handicap in the next game?

If a perpetrator can be identified then it's an automatic card

[Jac A]

Well I really enjoyed that as a game. BCS is a great venue and I had a wonderful time enjoying the rugby and the atmosphere. Was fantastic to see and hear so many Wasps fans there.

A real shame about the result and I can understand the frustration many on here seem to feel but having had a cursory glance though here and the match thread as well as some other SM outlets there's a lot I can't agree with.

For the game itself, Josh and Franny were excellent in defence and attack for most of the game, Robson and Mala had the best games I had seen from them in a while. Pack was strong, Jack Willis' defence really good. In fact would be hard to criticise anyone for the first 65 mins. I do agree that the replacements didn't work. Porter mucked up and Odogwu looked off the pace and elsewhere - with Franny tired (he probably should have come off) and Paolo not at the races we looked so vulnerable down our right flank.

But I don't think that making the changes was a knowable mistake. It's all well and good, with hindsight, to say we shouldn't have made them as we needed to retain control but our replacements have been great up until today.
In the last 10 games before today we have been ahead at half time in just 2 but have gone on to win 7. In the last 25 mins of those matches we have only been out-scored once (7 - 8 against Saints), in those 10 games we have scored 98 points in the last 25 mins and conceded only 30. I have seen comments suggesting we can't hold on to a lead etc and I think that is nonsense, against Leicester and Saracens our replacements were key in holding on to tight leads and against Bath and Worcester they turned tight wins into big wins. Today was an anomaly on current form.

I don't think we have been terrible this season, yes, we are in 9th but we are two points off 6th and despite playing for large parts of the season with a huge injury list which included many of our key players we have stayed competitive. London Irish are a good team and have some great players, it was really close to call at the start of the day and we ran out of steam while they found another gear, it happens.

As for staying in a game for 80 mins - we fought to the last at Worcester despite having the win and got the late Tom Willis try, we stayed in the game against Gloucester at Kingsholm and defended their statement set-piece to win the game, Look at the tries we scored to at the end to win against Exeter and Bath. Yes, Gloucester beat Bath and kept playing to the end and showed some 'passion' but Bath had given up and the rivalry there is such that Ludlum and co would always keep going - don't forget we beat that Gloucester side just a few weeks ago so I don't think they are streets ahead in the commitment stakes.

This is an incredibly competitive league, anyone can beat anyone and sometimes things go wrong and sometimes other teams get it together and play better. I'll echo RogerE's comment, fantastic game for the neutral and lets remember us coming back to win from 33-10 down last year - it happens.

[Shugs]

Well balanced post Jac. Not an easy one to swallow. I just feel sorry for those who worked so hard to put us in that position that we couldn’t hold on to win. Agree that without the crippling injuries early on we’d be comfortably top 8 and probably more.

[Rossm]

I really don't like it when posters single out a player for particular criticism however, in the context of the game, I haven't seen many bigger brain farts than Will's decision to go for that tap and go this afternoon.

[Tervueren]

I really don't like it when posters single out a player for particular criticism however, in the context of the game, I haven't seen many bigger brain farts than Will's decision to go for that tap and go this afternoon.

his flapping like amateur birdman rather than picking up the ball and kicking it out at that final ruck when time was up might be up there with it on the the brain fart front.

[JonnyD]

Hindsight is a a wonderful thing I guess - all this talk of blaming Blackett for bringing on Porter and then Porter for the quick tap and ruck at the end.
We have just had about two months of Porter coming on in every game and playing better than Dan and improving us as a team. Yes we didn’t need any more points but also comparisons with Gloucester and not wanting us to stop playing cannot come in.

I’d like to see it again but at the time I thought CMK got it Porter’s way for the quick tap.

[Andywasp50]

I really don't like it when posters single out a player for particular criticism however, in the context of the game, I haven't seen many bigger brain farts than Will's decision to go for that tap and go this afternoon.

his flapping like amateur birdman rather than picking up the ball and kicking it out at that final ruck when time was up might be up there with it on the the brain fart front.

This all happened right in front of me and was a slow motion car crash. I know it sounds harsh, but sometimes players need a strong reminder of their responsibilities rather than wrapping in excuses and cotton wool. At that last ruck, we’d managed to secure the ball and it was simply a matter of kicking it into touch. But no, Porter decided to amble round in a strange arc as the players screamed at him to get to the ruck, took a long look left and right and then it dawned on him he’d taken so long the counter ruck was good. He tried to dig the ball out but the game was up - his posturing had cost us. I have never seen a scrum half show so little urgency in a vital match winning situation as that. It’s probably cost us £thousands in not qualifying for the ECC and wasted a lot of hard work from the rest of the players. You could see it dawning on him as we waited for the pen try decision and he was notably absent from the player walk around at the end of the game. It matters, it cost us and he needs to be reminded of it, not have it brushed off. Where I sat Wasps fans out numbered Irish three to one and there was a stunned silence at the end.

Thirteen minutes earlier we were 39-14 up and an Irish player had just dropped a clearance into touch. It was party time for Wasps and a bad day at the office for Irish. But the brains trust in the backs was removed - Robson and Gopperth. Fekitoa moved to 12 with Odogwu at 13 and Porter came on, and suddenly Atkinson looked like a rabbit in the headlights without a guiding hand either side of him. Porter messed up a tap and go and a clearing kick, and was generally slow. Atkinson messed up a kick off and bottled out of a tackle for Irish’s fifth try whilst fading from the game. Tom Willis had been winning collisions and making ground but was taken off and replaced by Thomas Young who was so far off on his return he was virtually awol. With a weakened back row and changed midfield you’d expect to be able to weather such a lead so the subs were understandable, but this didn’t factor in the nonchalance of Porter and frailty of Atkinson. The half backs lost control of the game, Irish ran riot and the financial consequences could be tough to swallow.

Blackett should come under some scrutiny for letting Gopperth go as much as the lack of experience recruited for 10. We’re going to lose a lot of points from the kicking tee next year and with the missing intelligence in our backs, even 9th will be a big ask.

Today feels like a defeat, a capitulation. A quality outfit wouldn’t have allowed Irish anywhere near a bonus point, let alone a draw.

[Bloke in North Dorset]

I really don't like it when posters single out a player for particular criticism however, in the context of the game, I haven't seen many bigger brain farts than Will's decision to go for that tap and go this afternoon.

his flapping like amateur birdman rather than picking up the ball and kicking it out at that final ruck when time was up might be up there with it on the the brain fart front.

He played it quite well. He looked up at the clock and went for another phase because CMK told him to. He then confirmed with CMK that time was up but as he went for the ball Irish put a huge shove in and our forwards went backwards and he couldn't get the ball. Scrum halves do that sort of thing week in week out at then end of games, it just went horribly wrong this time.