• not being able to play for the full 80
• the inability to kill games off
• and the inability to score tries

Wasps dominated the entire first 40, our pack was comfortably on top and we hoarded possession. What did we have to show for it? A 12-0 lead proved by Danny Cipriani, consisting of three penalties and a quite brilliant drop goal from inside his own half. But no tries and no try scoring opportunities – the story of our season. It isn't difficult to see why either – there is simply no creativity behind the scrum. The second half was quite simply pitiful. Wasps couldn't keep their hands on the ball for more than a few minutes without being turned over or knocking on. Everything that could go wrong (line outs, touch finding, the scrum) did go wrong. Wasps were lucky that the Falcons had an off day as well – if the Newcastle team had arrived at Adams Park with their recent form it would have been hard to see Wasps getting anything from the game.

This season is a dead rubber now. Although there is still a mathematical chance of Heineken Cup qualification, I cannot see us winning both our remaining fixtures and to be honest, our performances this season haven't merited getting into the Heineken Cup. In fact, being in the ECC may be better for this Wasps team in the long run – there are going to be a lot of changes over the next season, and the youngsters coming through the ranks would benefit from a run in the lesser European competition. I also hope we have as few players on international and Lions duty as possible, this team needs a long summer off to recuperate and recover – and hopefully to get their attacking spark back.

2 – Rob Webber 7/10 – Good work in the loose as usual, and line outs were very good.

3 – Bob Baker 5/10 – Another start for the academy prop and again was good in the loose but mashed at scrum time. It is, however, the only way he'll learn.

4 – Simon Shaw 7/10 – Was impressive around the park until substituted

5 – George Skivington 6/10 – Good work defensively but quiet otherwise.

6 – James Haskell 6/10 – Did a lot of ball carrying – some good, some bad.

7 – Tom Rees © 7/10 – Improving with every game. Made turnovers, tackled everything and made some great runs with ball in hand.

8 – John Hart 6/10 – Did a lot of the dirty work.

9 – Mark Robinson 6/10 – Good game, a few of his passes were a little off-target but service was snappy and made a few very good tackles.

10 – Danny Cipriani 7/10 (First Half) 3/10 (Second Half) – A game of two halves. Kicked 3 penalties and a sublime drop goal in the first half, was breaking tackles and running at the Newcastle defence. Second half his game went completely off the boil – every touch finder seemed to go straight out and could do nothing right. Extremely odd performance.

11 – Tom Voyce 4/10 – Better than before, but still nowhere near his standard of previous seasons. Only played 30 minutes.

12 – Josh Lewsey 8/10 – After announcing his retirement on the same morning, he obviously had a point to prove. Brilliant game, defence was rock solid, ran hard and straight and his kicking was the best he's ever done. My MOTM.

13 – Dominic Waldouck 5/10 – No space to run, and is seeking contact too often for my liking.

14 – Lachlan Mitchell 6/10 – Good under the high ball but little room to run.

15 – Mark van Gisbergen 5/10 – An ok game. Did nothing wrong, but didn't impress.

16 – Joe Ward (for Webber, 64 ) 2/10 – Dreadful. We lost every line out after he came on.

17 – Charlie Beech (for Payne, 40) 4/10 – A tough apprenticeship for young Beech. In his last few games he's come up against Somerville, Johnston and now Hayman. He'll be a better player for it.

18 – Richard Birkett (for Shaw, 64) 3/10 – Our line out went to pieces once he and Ward came on.

19 – Joe Worsley (for Hart, 66) 5/10 – Didn't make an impact.

20 – Joe Simpson (for Robinson, 53) 5/10 – Didn't have the impact he would have hoped.

21 – Jeremy Staunton (for van Gisbergen, 63) 5/10 – We were always on the back foot in the second half and he didn't have a chance to shine.

22 – Rob Hoadley (for Voyce, 31) 7/10 – Slotted in at centre once Voyce went off and played a very good game. His work in defence is easily the best of our specialist centres. His form off the bench cries out for a start (and hopefully a new contract!)

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