By St Dormouse
September 11 2014
After a comprehensive demolition of a new-look Gloucester side last time out, Northampton Saints travel to Wycombe this weekend to take on Wasps in a Sunday afternoon fixture. Regular COYSDC contributor, St Dormouse, takes a look ahead to the game...
WASPS vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
AP: Sunday, 14th September 2014 - 2pm (BT)
ADAMS PARK, HIGH WYCOMBE
MATCH PREVIEW
Vespula Vulgaris, the common wasp, of the family Vespidae, the suborder Hymenoptera, the class Insecta and the Phylum Arthropoda. Commonly found in Europe and the United Kingdom it will aggressively defend its nest, but otherwise will not usually sting unless provoked or surprised. (Yeah right!)
Or if you prefer the Urban Dictionary version “Evil, scary, yellow and black stripy insect that flies around stinging people and has a nasty little face like Darth Vader”
Not, of course, to be confused with that other annoying little pest that comes out on bank holidays, Vespa Hairdrierus, often found sitting in lay-bys being looked at by mid life crisis types dreaming of days gone by or spotty little oiks who once caught a glimpse of Lesley Ash’s white bits in Quadrophenia and now think they are Jimmy Cooper.
Has anybody else noticed how few wasps have been around this summer? Many a splendid Sunday afternoon has been spent with a glass of cider and a bowl of summer berries and not a buzz from the little blighters. This can, of course, be explained. Imagine somebody going around with a massive rolled up copy of the Sunday Times and giving the devils what for. Well that is exactly what happened the last time these two teams met at Franklins Gardens on May 10th last season. The wielders of said metaphoric newspaper were Northampton Saints, Champions of England and swatter of beasties everywhere. (You will notice that there are few Tigers in Grimsby these days and very little chance of catching a glimpse of a camel abroad in the Fens for much the same reason)
We meet Wasps RFC again this weekend, and nobody is under any illusion that this will be another walk over. There is no doubt that Wasps were not interested last time around, they were saving themselves for things to come and for them the game was a dead duck. The fact that they then went on to win back to back matches against Stade Francais to secure the final place in the new European competition shows these chaps have got it in them. Nobody likes to be humiliated and the players and fans that came to the Gardens that day must have been embarrassed to say the least. An 11 try 74-13 drubbing was not quite what they had in mind as they travelled up the A43. There are scores to settle, pride to be reclaimed.
During the off season Wasps have recruited well. Bradley Davies and John Yapp from Wales, Ruaridh Jackson from Scotland, Sailosi Tagicakibau from Irish and James Gaskell and Rob Miller from Sale. It’s such a shame that bespectacled weather presenter Ian is not on the market, otherwise we could have had a back row of Haskell, Gaskell and McCaskill! Unfortunately unless London Welsh have any spaces there is little chance of us seeing the chirpie wee chappie in the premiership any time soon.
Before I start on the teams I have had a few problems getting player details, the Wasps web site is not much help and the Fans network site, waspies.net, has been down all day. I thought it was my pc but can you imagine my (not altogether unpleasant) surprise when I typed in waspies and was immediately confronted by a screen full of scantily clad ladies? Well I wasn’t to know was I? I have travelled the seven seas on the grey funnel line and am approaching the half century and never in my life has anybody tried to offer me a bit of the other by chirping “come and see my waspie”. I ask you, the things you learn on this new fangled interweb thingy. Enough to make a chap blush! Needless to say I had to turn the computer off immediately. Well when I say immediately......
(Since writing, the web site is back on line and I have been able to gain a much appreciated insight into the minds of some splendidly helpful Waspies, so I have been able to edit appropriately. Thanks Guys)
After last Friday’s demolition of a disorientated Gloucester team I find it hard to think that Jim would make any changes to the side. Some might argue that Ben Foden is our 1st choice full back and should start, but I would counter by saying that if Jim is true to his word and picks on form, then James Wilson should keep the 15 shirt. Big George may have scored a hat trick but Wilson was my man of the match with scything runs and perfect offloads, as well as a monster boot. He may be cursed with the utility tag but how can you drop him? Indeed after only one match, where virtually everybody played well, how can you drop anybody?
As for Wasps they were unfortunate to lose in the dying seconds to a Strettle try in a game which they maybe should have held on to. After a mediocre 1st half they came back well from 20-9 down only to let Saracens in at the death. A collective groan could clearly be heard from ¾ of Twickenham. They will be keen to put one over on the reigning champions in front of their own fans.
The Antennae
Watching from the stand will be Head coach Dai Young, who will have seen what happened to compatriot Nigel Davies along the M4 and will be hoping his own bosses are more forgiving. Alongside he has another Wales legend Stephen Jones.
The Head
I can’t see any change from Saturday here. They started well enough with Mullen and Italian Internationals Carlo Festuccia and Lorenzi Cittadini but struggled in the second half. I can’t see our front row having too many problems unless the referee has the same issue with Corbs as Barnes seemed to have. Expect the same three from Jim.
The Thorax
A comparatively lightweight but mobile forward unit with Launchbury and Gaskell in the 2nd row and Haskell, Springbok Ashley Johnson and Fijian Nathan Hughes in the back row. Johnson was particularly impressive last Saturday showing speed and an eye for opportunity as well as a clever boot. Much like The Saints they have players able to interchange between 2nd and back row. With Bradley Davies still to recover from an injury which kept him out of the Wales tour to South Africa I would expect the same line up. It remains to be seen if the athletic Wasps players are able to compete with the more powerful Saints.
Propodeum
Simpson and Goode started last week, Joe Simpson is still a thorn in the side but I did wonder why Scottish International Ruaridh Jackson was not given a start, and can only presume Dai wanted the more settled duo at the helm. Andy Goode is an experienced head while Jackson is more adventurous and carefree. I wonder which 10 will start on Sunday?
Abdomen
I have always liked the look of Elliot Daly who is a strong and determined character if a tad predictable. Chris Bell also started last week but there is much debate about whether the pair will be able to cope with Luther Burrell charging down the middle. There is speculation that Tagicakibau could be put to good use in the centre but I think that’s far too risky, apparently he didn’t exactly shine when Irish tried the same ploy. I don’t think they have a huge amount of options at the moment although I gather they are awaiting the return of Samoan Alapati Leiua in the not too distant future. Andrea Masi is a centre but is currently being preferred at full back.
Wings (See what I did...eh?..eh?..)
Christian Wade got off to a flying start and the matchup between him and George North will be fascinating. Both have their strengths and either will be able to make a fool of the other. Another debate is whether to keep Tagicakibau on the other wing or bring back Varndell. I know which one I would prefer in my team and he never played for Leicester, but it’s not up to me.
Sting in the tail
Ok this doesn’t work so well as we all know that Wade is the true wasp sting but that messes up my biology lesson so stick with it.
Rob Miller came from sale and although he didn’t cover himself in glory last week, I can’t see how you can drop a man after the 1st match. It will do more harm than good. Maybe Masi will start at full back, either way they will have a hard job to cover at the back if the Saints backs run the kind of lines they ran last week.
Legs
I wonder if Wasps will be able to go the distance against a team who looked like they could play on for hours last Friday. Certainly mentally they let themselves down by not finishing Saracens off with 2 minutes to go, then conceding 80 yards and the try. The scrum was being pushed back at a rate of knots for the last quarter and a lot of the team looked tired. Saints meanwhile seem to have developed a mental toughness demonstrated most impressively against Tigers and again in the Final against that other lot..sorry who were they again? They have also appeared quite ruthless in destroying teams who have all but thrown in the towel, Gloucester last week and Wasps at the end of last season. There is no doubt we were spoiled last week. I know we cannot expect that sort of performance of perfect running and stunning offloads every time, but if Saints can play anywhere near as well as that again, then I can’t see how Wasps will be able to keep up. Saying that I’m sure they will give it a damn good go and we have been ambushed plenty of times in the past.
Before I sign off I have been informed by Mrs. D that she knows what a waspie is. As do all her work colleagues, my Mum and most of the ladies of the local WI, one of whom, I have it on good authority, has a pattern with which to knit one using alpaca wool and spandex. So it was only me and my 10 year old nephew that didn’t know, and I expect he is fibbing. Now where did I put those Ann Summers vouchers I won in the Easter Raffle?
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Quote:Another debate is whether to keep Tagicakibau on the other wing or bring back Varndell. I know which one I would prefer in my team and he never played for Leicester, but it’s not up to me.
Quote:Saint.Kenneth
That was great Mr Mouse.
also very respectful of our hosts.