A win is always a win but pink boots are always terrible

After a huge weekend of travelling, and having not been home since Friday night, I turned up at Adams Park excited by the prospect of making it 5/7. With memories of our 3 try win over Leicester the week before, getting a bonus point seemed a very realistic objective considering Saints' away form.

How wrong I was.

Three Danny Cipriani penalties to a Ben Foden try eventually saw Wasps home, but in a game littered with mistakes, little attacking opportunities and a referee who thought we were all there to see him judging by how often he blew his whistle. The scrums were a mess all game, and I doubt anyone (Debney included) knew what was going on in there.

Although Wasps started well with two Cipriani penalties in the opening ten minutes, our tendency to boot the ball straight down Ben Foden's throat (who, for me, should give up any ideas of being a scrum half – he's an excellent fullback) eventually led to the game consisting of Saints counter attacking and Wasps soaking up the pressure.

Fortunately for Wasps, the defence was outstanding yet again and Stephen Myler decided he was going to turn up in every facet of play bar goalkicking. When he missed a kick straight in front of the posts, you could tell it wasn't going to be his day (even the weather conspired against him – the clouds parting for the sun to shine directly into his face just before he started his run up for one penalty). I found it odd that they didn't switch goalkickers especially since the normally reliable Bruce Reihana was on the field.

It took Saints' 52 minutes to breach the Wasps defence, when the excellent Foden beat his man on the outside to run in to the corner. Myler missed the conversion to no one's surprise. Further penalties by Cipriani would have killed the game off but he got 1/3 in the second half, leaving us for a tense finish.

Thankfully, the game ended with Wasps pressure at the Saints end, with several scrums under the posts. Once the time was up, Voyce hoofed the ball off the pitch (though why not take a drop goal if you want to get it off the pitch? If you miss, then game over – if you score then it's an extra three points.)

To be honest, I cannot see Wasps making the play offs. We were in the same position last year, but last year we had Lawrence's determination driving the team and we were also playing a lot better.

However, I can see us making the top 6, and with London Irish probably favourites to win the Challenge cup, and Gloucester/Saints in the mix for the EDF that may be enough to sneak Heineken Cup qualification. A few nasty away games aside (Gloucester, Bath) we have a relatively easy run in. The home games against Irish, Bristol and Newcastle and the away games against Worcester and Bristol are all winnable and we should target them for maximum points. One game at a time, lads....

1 – Tim Payne 5/10 – A quiet game by the standards he has set himself recently. Did his bit defensively though. Scrums were a mess all game.

2 – Rob Webber 6/10 – There was always going to be trouble with both Rob and Hartley on the field; the first scuffle occurred about 2 mins after kick off. Less of the stupid mistakes that have littered his game recently and line out throwing was very good.

3 – Pat Barnard 6/10 – Only played the first half but seemed to be exerting some pressure on the Saints scrum before he went off (though to be honest, who knows what was going on in there?)

4 – Simon Shaw 6/10 – Made a few galloping runs like the Shaw of old. Made a few crunching hits.

5 – George Skivington 7/10 – Seems to get better every week. Not much to do with ball in hand but was a major part of our excellent defensive display. He'll be wearing a red rose before too long.

6 – Richard Birkett 5/10 – Seemed like an odd choice to replace Leo to me, what with Hugo being on the bench.

7 – Serge Betsen © 8/10 – Another great display from Serge. Seemed to be first to the ball every time and was outstanding in defence. My MOTM.

8 – John Hart 5/10 – Quiet game.

9 – Mark Robinson 5/10 – Made some absolutely brilliant hits (point to prove?) but still doesn't have the passing game we need.

10 – Danny Cipriani 4/10 – A 50% kicking display and sub standard in attack – the worst game I've seen him play in the last few weeks. Passing was laboured, kicking from hand was woeful. Targeted as a weak link in the defence by the Saints attack. Sharpened up considerably when moved to centre, as had a lot more room to play with.

11 – Tom Voyce 4/10 – Not much to do, and no room to run. Story of his season.

12 – Josh Lewsey 7/10 – Some surging runs and important tackles. Improved once on the wing.

13 – Dominic Waldouck 7/10 – Tackles above his weight for a little guy and made space whenever he had the ball.

14 – Chris Bishay 3/10 – Stupid boots and a stupid trip. Taking him off was for the best. A shame as he had seemed to improve over the last few weeks. Awful boots.

15 – Mark van Gisbergen 6/10 – Safe under the high ball and tackled above his weight. Not given any room to run.

Bench:

16 – Joe Ward (for Webber, 74) 5/10 – Not much time to make an impact.

17 – Tom French (for Barnard, 40) 4/10 – Didn't notice him at all really which was odd since he wears that ridiculous scrum hat.

18 – Marty Veale

19 – Hugo Ellis (for Hart, 73) 5/10 – Not much time to make an impact.

20 – Eoin Reddan (for Robinson, 51) 8/10 – Quick and accurate service (makes a change!) and a few darting runs changed our attack completely. Made a difference.

21 – Dave Walder (for Hoadley, 55) 8/10 – Some huge flat passes which Danny and Dom hit at speed seemed to open the game up in the last 20. We looked far more likely to score with him on. When will he get a start?

22 – Rob Hoadley (for Bishay, 51) 4/10 – No time to make an impact at all. Went off with what looked like a head injury.

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