Wasps

Just what is going on at wasps.

OK this may be jumping the gun but wasps seem to finally have gotten their act together.
Is there a new resurgence or a minor upturn in fortunes?

I would be inclined to think that the upturn has arrived in any other season but there is the overriding feeling that the two big clubs of last season been undone by world cup absentees.

The club has seen some major changes with a substantial influx of players and a new tinge to the coaching team but overall the quality of the squad is not at top 4 level. With some senior players the better players in the squad seem to be young newcomers such as launchberry and wade.

Will this be a team of the future? is a new ethos and refreshed coaching team going to make up for lack of quality? is the status quo going to return at the end of the world cup?

New head coach and new signings. The club needed freshening up. By all accounts Dai Young has got the spirit back in the players, who are responding well to the new coaching team.

Nicky Robinson has been very good so far overall. Wentzel has improved what was an awful line out, alongside Launchberry. Poff is a a very astute 7 and Chris Bell is doing well alongside Flutey. The scrum is still an issue and most Wasps fans want Castex to start at
loose head. Southwell does not drop the ball at full back (so far!).

The team are doing the basics well and are looking to get the ball wide - with Varndell and Wade on the wings why wouldn't we

Good start, but we'll see what happens when teams are back to full strength. Credit to Tigers on Sunday; they have a good squad and will be in the mix come April/May.

Sarries and Leicester may be heavily depleted at the moment, but even those depleted teams would have taken us to the cleaners last season.

Even with most of their pack missing, the Leicester scrum is still a fairly solid machine. Yet, practically for the first time in recent memory, we matched them.
That is definitely something new.... admittedly, Sarries absolutely annihilated us the week before.

Good pace on the wings, good depth at centre, and our most potent weapon (Simmo) still to come back.


All in all, I'm a lot more confident than I was last season

"All in all, I'm a lot more confident than I was last season"

Me too

If England don't play Simpson in this World Cup, I'll be livid that we've lost him for a good bit of the season. Jonno hasn't been keen to entrust him so far in the warm up games.


ALLEZ!!

Hound_of_Harrow wrote:New head coach and new signings. The club needed freshening up. By all accounts Dai Young has got the spirit back in the players, who are responding well to the new coaching team.

Nicky Robinson has been very good so far overall. Wentzel has improved what was an awful line out, alongside Launchberry. Poff is a a very astute 7 and Chris Bell is doing well alongside Flutey. The scrum is still an issue and most Wasps fans want Castex to start at
loose head. Southwell does not drop the ball at full back (so far!).

The team are doing the basics well and are looking to get the ball wide - with Varndell and Wade on the wings why wouldn't we

Good start, but we'll see what happens when teams are back to full strength. Credit to Tigers on Sunday; they have a good squad and will be in the mix come April/May.

TBH, Hound , I don't think Southwell will let you down - he's always been a good club player, he was well respected at Stade F as far as I know

Wasps have the advantage of having a fresh start with a new coach,new impetus. They are still an unknown quantity in a way. Bit like Exeter were last season. In contrast everyone knows what to expect when playing Saracens and Leicester.

I feel that Wasps have been fortunate in playing Saracens and Leicester at the right time. Saracens have been notoriously rusty in their first game - losing 2 out of 11 double headers. You wouldn't expect them to play that badly again.

Leicester are particularly missing a lot of players.

Have to give credit to Wasps for winning those two games regardless of circumstances though.

I think we'll have to wait and see if it just a minor upturn in fortunes.

A HC qualification spot should be your main target as you continue to rebuild.

What does Wasps' fixture list look like?

Beshocked - there have only been 8 double headers. They started in 2004.

Our fixtures should be the same as everyone else's over the course of the season

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Coming up is Sale (H) Chiefs (A) Falcons (A).

Tis indeed a good start. Found something out recently; that Joe Launchbury went to the same school I did, albeit some years after I left

It's a very positive start & I don't think the wins to date should be underestimated as Wasps are missing players through WC & injury too.

The scrum was a lot more solid against the Tigers but I still think there is work to do there personally.
A great step forward this season though.

Although it's a terrible shame not having Simpson around at the moment, it does mean that our 2nd / 3rd choice scrum halves are getting some very very good experience.
and they're currently getting experience in a winning team.

Hopefully, even if he doesn't play, Simpson can pick up some good 'big match' experiences from just being around the squad etc and help to improve his overall game.


The aim is for this squad of players to go on to play in lots of big matches.
Heineken Cup qualification this season will mean that the entire squad need to be comfortable playing in important knockout matches (even group stages of HC are like knockouts a lot of the time)

It was something that the Wasps squad from nearly 10 years ago knew all about, and I have no doubt in my mind that those experiences led the team to 'turn it on' during the 2007 HEC final against a superior Leicester team.