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The RWC, 2003, 1999, And All That

Gongs galore
By Vespasian October 11 2007
London Wasps go into their fifth Guinness Premiership game without a win. Wasps supporters' World Cup angst is plain to see on the message boards. It is well founded: we have supplied 11 players to the Rugby World Cup. We have a smaller squad than some of our rivals, and we are paying for it on the field.

So, how will the rest of the season pan out for London Wasps? Let's take a trip the down the memory lanes of 2003 and 1999. 1995 is a step too far, as the game was still "amateur" and it was seemingly in the vice like grip of Bath.

In 2003, we were shorn (eventually) of 5 England players: Lawrence Dallaglio, Josh Lewsey, Joe Worsley, Stuart Abbott and, as a late replacement for a crocked Danny Grewcock, the utterly disused and bemused Simon Shaw. Shawsy was able to play Wasps' opening fixtures, only flying out to Oz at the end of October. Kenny Logan played his last internationals for Scotland.

Alex King had missed out on selection with an injury, also missing the early part of our 2003/04 season. Phil Greening was well out of favour with Woodward. Rob Howley had retired from Wales over a year before. Trevor Leota decided to stay in London with Wasps. Rob Henderson had left for Munster (little did we know we would meet him again in Dublin later that season!) Tom Voyce was newly arrived from Bath.

Despite winning the Zurich Premiership in May 2003, Wasps were fortunate to lose so few players to RWC 2003. England's going all the way, however, meant that our England contingent were unavailable for Premiership action until early December. By then they weren't guaranteed a starting spot, but for the purpose of this article, we shall examine the first four fixtures only...

First up came a visit to our old foes, Quins. In an end-to-end game, Wasps started well with Van Gisbergen pulling the strings at stand-off. Voyce opened his account with Wasps with a third minute try. Burke kept Quins in the game with some astute kicking. Monye bagged a brace either side of a Dunne score when our lack of experience in the back row allowed Diprose to escape the blindside of a defensive scrummage and link with Dunne for the most damaging score. Gizzy kicked a late goal to secure a bonus point in our traditional opening gambit, a defeat.

Fortunately Leeds called in game two, and Robin Goodliffe was not officiating! A dull first half saw Wasps gain only a two point advantage. Three second half tries brought home the bacon, and the dressing room door stayed on its hinges.

A visit to Northampton next burst our bubble again, as penalties cost us dearly. Relegation escapees, Bath, visited the Lost Causeway in game four and grabbed a one point victory, thanks to indiscipline from a certain commercial director and that man Shawsy.

2003: 4 games in, only 1 win and only 6 points. We all know what happened later that season: just three more league defeats, and a double of major proportions with Toulouse tackled senseless, and Bath bested twice times over (10-6!).

What of 1999? Dallaglio and Worsley were with England, Logan was with Scotland, Henderson was with Ireland, and Leota was with Samoa. 5 players down. A trip to Sale ushered in our traditional opening defeat. Our back row was again a touch inexperienced. Sale were fired up by relegation talk in the media. Relegation! A foolish notion. Sale snatched a score from our defensive scrum five and were practically safe by the end of the RWC. Inexperience certainly cost us there.

A two week hiatus saw Wasps regroup and turn over Gloucester 30-26 at home  (another Waspish tradition;) Gloucester has yet to win at any of Wasps' homes in the league. Bristol brought us back down to earth with a damp thud during a Friday night road trip. In truth, we were lucky to earn a losing bonus point.

London Irish failed to show up at the Jail in game four, going down 43-20 (we can but hope that history repeats itself;)

1999, 4 games in: 2 wins, 2 defeats, 10 points. We defended the Tetley's Bitter Cup, but were off the pace in the League, finishing well behind rampant Tigers - suppliers of many a player to the RWC.

Conclusion? Leicester, Sale and Wasps probably should finish above mid-table despite losing more players to the RWC than other Premiership teams. Whether attracting/producing internationals will be beneficial in the future remains unanswered. The hassle may outweigh the recompense.

 

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Re: The RWC, 2003, 1999, and all that
Posted by: Sudbury Survivor (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:10:11:07:59:33

Nice piece putting it all into context.

Unfortunately who would have predicted that the SH mercenaries would be available for the Prem before the home grown talent.
If I recall there was less of an exodus in previous years and they were not available until the end of the tournament.

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Re: The RWC, 2003, 1999, and all that
Posted by: Skippy (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:10:11:08:08:34

1999: bonus points were hard to come by. If recall correctly, they still had not been introduced. For that year, fewer points were awarded for a win during the RWC than afterwards. I think it was 2 for a win during the RWC and three for a win afterwards -- draws received a single point throughout the season.

As for London Irish failing to show up at the Lost Causeway. I'm not surprised. Back then the Wycombe ground was called Adams Park (as it is now), although that is rather irrelevant. The game was played at Loftus Road.

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