London Welsh
London Wasps v London Welsh Preview
Nick Scott on the attack
By Mark W-J
October 24 2012
The Premiership season is a stop-start affair, with matches played in seven blocks of two to six weeks interspersed with the European and Anglo-Welsh competitions, and a final standalone round of fixtures in early May. The next fortnight will see London Welsh pit themselves against two established Premiership greats who have fallen on hard times, upon whose recent misfortune we aim to capitalise.
London Wasps are one of only four clubs who have been ever-present in the top-flight of English rugby since the inception of league system in 1987, and have been champions of England on six occasions - four times in the professional era. When the play-offs were introduced in 2002-03 they claimed the title in each of the first three seasons despite not finishing top of the table in the regular season on any of those occasions, and they have also won the Heineken Cup on two occasions, beating Toulouse 27-20 in 2003-04 and Leicester 25-9 three years later. However, since the retirement of the talismanic leader Lawrence Dallaglio in 2008 Wasps have been in decline, and last season they narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship. Of course they were never a one-man team, and it may just be coincidence that their fortunes have dipped since Dallaglio hung up his boots. They certainly haven’t been helped by a string of established players being forced to retire through injury, including Joe Worsley, Phil Vickery, Tom Rees, Steve Thompson, Richard Birkett and Nic Berry in the last twelve months alone, nor by the uncertainty over the club’s future which hung over the club for much of last season following the announcement in October last year that Steve Hayes, who had bought a controlling stake in 2008, was looking to sell up.
Dai Young in his second season
as Director of Rugby
Last season Wasps finished 11th in the league with just 33 points - their lowest total since the bonus point system was introduced in 2000-01. They might well have been relegated had Bath’s Sam Vesty not been guilty of prematurely celebrating what would have been his side’s bonus-point try in the penultimate round of fixtures at the Rec, allowing Tom Varndell to tackle him and hold the ball up over the line. That earned Wasps a losing bonus point, which meant that Newcastle needed to collect the maximum five points at Adams Park on the final weekend in order to stay in the Premiership at Wasps’ expense, a feat which proved beyond them. There was still time for a potential further twist to the relegation saga, with rumours that Wasps may be forced into administration due to the protracted struggle to find a new owner, but the fears proved unfounded as a consortium led by former player Ken Moss exchanged contracts on a deal in June and finally assumed control on the eve of the new season.
Wasps have enjoyed a more promising start to the 2012-13 campaign, currently sitting in eighth place with 13 points from their opening six matches. Like Welsh they have two wins and four defeats, but they have picked up five bonus points, including scoring four tries in both of their home fixtures against rival London clubs. The opening day defeat to Harlequins was hard to swallow, two bonus points being scant consolation after throwing away a 27 point lead in a 42-40 defeat. Their two wins have both come at Wycombe, against London Irish (43-14) and Worcester (10-6), while they have lost at Bath, Gloucester and Northampton. From a Welsh perspective, no other club has had such a tough opening set of fixtures: we’ve already faced five of the top six clubs, which means that we will play four of the clubs currently in the bottom half in our five league games before Christmas. The fact that we’ve collected two wins and two losing bonus points naturally gives us hope for the rest of the season, but it should also be mentioned in mitigation that no other club has played four home fixtures in the opening six rounds. Worcester entertain Sale on Friday night while the Sharks host London Irish next weekend, so the teams around us will be picking up points. It is therefore vital that we get at least one win from the games with Wasps and then next Sunday at home to Bath - we’ve beaten both teams in the Monday night ‘A’ league in the past fortnight - to stop ourselves falling behind in the mini-league which is developing at the bottom of the table.
A Welshman in the middle
Nigel Owens takes charge this Sunday
As Wasps have spent the last 25 years in the top flight, this will naturally be our first league meeting, and we have only met once previously in a competitive fixture. That was a cup quarter-final at Wasps’ traditional home in Sudbury in the 1978-79 season, a dour game which we lost 6-3. We’d already beaten Bath and Coventry at ODP in the earlier rounds - those were the days when only 32 clubs qualified for the competition - with Man of the Match performances from Neil Bennett earning him a recall to the England team for that year’s Five Nations. But we were strangely out of sorts at Wasps in the last eight, and the winning penalty was kicked by a Welshman, full-back Haydn Davies, who later moved to the Exiles. Leicester went on to win the cup for the first time, beating Moseley 15-12 at Twickenham after beating Wasps in the semi-final; to add insult to injury, Welsh had comfortably beaten the Tigers both home and away earlier in the season. The first meeting of the clubs took place on 10th December 1898 at Cambrian Park, Hampstead, which was our home for just one season, although the return fixture was cancelled because of a clash with the Boat Race; for reasons unknown we didn’t arrange another visit to Sudbury until 14th April 1934. Our 72-6 win over Wasps at ODP on 18th September 1971 was, at the time, the biggest win in the club’s history, and was not surpassed until we beat Sudbury (the other one) 88-7 in a Courage Five South fixture in March 1995.
104 caps and six Lions appearances
Can Stephen Jones' experience help move
Wasps up the league table?
Sunday’s game will have a distinctly Welsh flavour, with both coaches having been among the original five Regional coaches back in 2003. Dai Young spent eight years in charge of the Cardiff Blues before moving to Wasps at the start of last season, and it was announced this week that he will coach the Barbarians for their two end-of-season matches against England at Twickenham and the Lions in Hong Kong. Dai is the only player to have represented the British Lions in three decades, having toured in 1989, 1997 and 2003. We expect to see Gavin Henson restored to the No.10 jersey for London Welsh, having been rested for last weekend’s trip to Italy, and he will find himself face-to-face with a familiar foe, with Nicky Robinson and Stephen Jones sharing fly-half duties for Wasps this season. Robinson started his career at Cardiff, scoring 739 points in 133 appearances between 2001 and 2009 before spending two years at Gloucester and moving to Wasps for the start of last season. He’s been joined at Wycombe this term by Wales’ most-capped player (104) and second-highest points scorer (917), who has moved to England after two spells with Llanelli and then the Scarlets covering fourteen seasons, with a two-year stint at Clermont Auvergne sandwiched inbetween. Jones was also first-choice fly-half on the last two Lions tours, kicking 53 points in six tests. They have started three games each so far this season, with Jones having scored two points more than his rival. And the Welsh flavour even extends to the officials - thankfully not Llyr ap Geraint Roberts, but the truly world-class Nigel Owens, who will be taking charge of his sixth Premiership match.
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The prospect of this fixture was the one that whetted my appetite most when we were promoted - having previously lived and/or worked in the Wycombe district for many years and the arrival of Stephen Jones adds even more to it from my perspective.
A rare outing for all the Crug clan along with some Cacwn Llundain friends.
I moved to the Wycombe area three years ago and have been saying ever since that I will go....haven't quite made it yet.
Never did I dream it would be to see us play them in the Prem!
Hope it will be a cracker...
Quote:davidcaldwell
Me too Crug,
I moved to the Wycombe area three years ago and have been saying ever since that I will go....haven't quite made it yet.
Never did I dream it would be to see us play them in the Prem!
Hope it will be a cracker...
I moved away 7 years ago - the good people of Wycombe & Tylers Green had suffered enough.
"GIVE THEM NO BALL OR BAD BALL WELSH"
In my opinion probably one of the best referees in the world and certainly one who has good reason to realise how important it is to not be prejudice.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:10:26:12:44:20 by DanFW3.
Replacements: 16. Dan George, 17. Tom Bristow, 18. Arthur Joly, 19. Kirill Kulemin*, Alfie To’oala*, 21. Nick Runciman, 22. James Lewis, 23. Joe Ajuwa.
My previous post rendered Jeremy Guscott as Biscotti. Predictive text takes on ever more bizarre turns in rendering the silken one as little biscuits.
Replacements: 16. T Rhys Thomas, 17. Phil Swainston, 18. Fabio Staibano, 19. James Cannon, 20. Jonathan Poff, 21. Charlie Davies, 22. Tommy Bell, 23. Elliot Daly
Good to see Seb Jewel getting a start he has been playing well. is Tonga 'uiha injured because I thought he has been really good outside our Gav
Joe was still struggling with defence play and positioning against Bath United on Monday. Despite scoring a good try we probably have to hope he's not needed to take the field against Wasps.
Feel our backs should have enough to win this one providing our pack can get parity. If it can't we,ll be in trouble
Quote:nld
Joe was still struggling with defence play and positioning against Bath United on Monday. Despite scoring a good try we probably have to hope he's not needed to take the field against Wasps.
I didn't see the game on Monday, but you've got to remember he had played a full 80 minutes in Italy only 2 days before that (and had a rather good game as well in my opinion) so its not all that surprising if he wasn't on top form so soon after.
Quote:WDRQuote:nld
Joe was still struggling with defence play and positioning against Bath United on Monday. Despite scoring a good try we probably have to hope he's not needed to take the field against Wasps.
I didn't see the game on Monday, but you've got to remember he had played a full 80 minutes in Italy only 2 days before that (and had a rather good game as well in my opinion) so its not all that surprising if he wasn't on top form so soon after.
That may not have helped but these are aspects of his play that just haven't improved as much as they need to for this level. He takes some stopping going forward and does cause problems for opposition defences but I'm not sure that's enough in the Premiership.
Quote:nld
F/T Wuss 23 Sale 16
Bath beat Exeter 23-15 this afternoon.
A win tomorrow needed to keep in touch with the mid-table group.
If we can hold onto Bath in the first half then I feel we could have a serious go at them, they seem to have a problem with either concentration or stamina, whereas we have played some of our best rugby second half.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:10:28:13:11:09 by Dragons' Den.
In a week where fellow bottom-three sides Sale and London Irish both lost, Jones' side missed out on a bonus point after conceding a last-minute penalty - and he insists it was unforced errors both early and late on in the game that cost his side that valuable commodity.
"The mood in the changing room is one of huge disappointment - not so much because of losing but, of throwing away a losing bonus point at the end," said Jones.
"The player in question has put his hand up and apologised for his actions - but things happen. You're making a positive mistake, and you throw away a bonus point.
"We all appreciate bonus points are much-valued in the league and much sought-after.
"Unforced errors are the difference between being a Championship player and a Premiership player - players are adapting to the intensity and the responsibility that unforced errors will cost you points and lots of yards.
"It's not about the last minute of the game, it's about the first 20. We went 8-0 down from some poor decisions from us and we have to be a lot tidier and cleaner in our game early on."
link
N Owens' performance with the whistle demonstrated just how mediocre most of the refs around are. Off the field, Wasps 'match day experience' is much improved. Paelle anyone?
Quote:With the two sides below us playing each other this Friday night we must hope that Oirish can perform away at Sale (without a romp that keeps the points difference in manageable figures) and keep them pinned firmly to the bottom... But a win for us is vital.nld
Level on points with Irish at the end of the weekend but above then in the table by smallest of margins. LW points difference -72, LI on -73. Five points behind Wuss, eight ahead of Sale. A win against Bath next week looking more and more vital.
The ego crash-landed when he stepped-up to kick on from inside his own half and it fell way short. Should have gone for the corner (it worked later in the game) and his kicking from hand was aimless and served no other purpose than to handover possession on a silver platter.
Unless he's genuinely having a "bums-on-seats" effect, Jones would be better off placing his faith in Gordon Ross and let him run the team show, not GH running the GH show.
Quote:adge1
Probably could have nicked a bp, but didn't really deserve it. Looked a shambles when Wasps backs were running fast and hard, didn't seem to have much of a clue aginst them. Henson was nowhere near his best, Voyce palpably isn't fit. Hudson was missed.
We missed the first couple of minutes as we'd raced up from the Great South Run and plonked ourselves into some seats in the Wasps Nest to find we were already behind. Not a great start and not a great match really.
There was a lot of ping-pong stuff and neither side (but particularly us) were particularly effective at putting boot to ball, either from the tee or from hand, with balls coming off the side of foot or straight down their throats in clear space for them to run back at speed.... and that Christian Wade didn't need too much space before he turned into Billy Whizz and became a real handful.
Henson had a awful game (his first attempt at a kick at the sticks nearly ended with him slipping on his ar$e and scuffing the ball a few feet above the ground, much to the merriment of the clowns sat around me - I think he changed his studs after that, but there were a few players finding the ground very slippy in running play) And he again gave away too much ball when he has the skills to take it forward, and again there was one of those 'clever passes' slipped behind him which his support players didn't anticipate would happen and so Wasps pounced on it and so momentum (and possession) was lot.
We did hold them in the scrum and managed to push them about in the second half but our lineout was under pressure and a BP was all we could hope for but that was snatched away in the last minutes.
We need to see more of Ross on the field and Henson really needs to start dusting off the cobwebs and showing what he's capable of..
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012:10:29:10:39:49 by sportbilly42.
Quote:Entirely agree... (I was typing as you were posting). He's being allowed to go for the posts every time when with these max distance ego kicks he should be getting slapped and told to kick to corner and put our faith in the rest of the team to get over the line. It wasn't a windy day yesterday but he clearly left his kicking boots at home and should have realised that sooner and we may have then scraped a BPStandardprocedure
As a neutral at yesterday's game, I honestly couldn't see why Henson remained on the field. His performance was abject at best.
The ego crash-landed when he stepped-up to kick on from inside his own half and it fell way short. Should have gone for the corner (it worked later in the game) and his kicking from hand was aimless and served no other purpose than to handover possession on a silver platter.
Unless he's genuinely having a "bums-on-seats" effect, Jones would be better off placing his faith in Gordon Ross and let him run the team show, not GH running the GH show.
You'll not make many friends at away grounds if you keep doing that - hopefully it was just a bit of mistiming
Quote:Standardprocedure
Oh, and also, your travelling choir striking up a tune during the taking of a penalty kick = poor form.
Oh I dunno why there ALWAYS has to be this deathly hush for penalties... These boys are capable of blocking out the noise. Is it so we can admire the 'crouching for a s**t' stance? Award marks for the odd running up styles? (extra marks for introducing a high knee raise a la Gav) So we don't interfere with the 'eyes to ball, to post, to ball, to blond in the crowd, to ball, to post, to blond, to post' pre kick aiming techniques...?
I get frustrated as my eyes are on the match clock ticking away and am stifling a "GET ON WITH IT!!!" so a cheery tune from the choir is an improvement...
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2012:10:29:11:05:09 by sportbilly42.
I agree with the extreme range penalties though, they have their place maybe at the end of a game when you need three points for a win or a bonus. But it seems daft especially when we had already showed that a kick to the corner followed by a lineout could work.
That just seems to be our main problem a more analytical approach to the game is needed around the set plays..
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:10:29:14:33:50 by chappers.
Quote:adge1
The deathly hush for penalties is clearly nonesense in a professional game - it doesn't put anybody off. Not suggesting for one moment that abuse should be allowed, but what's the difference between barracking a man under a high ball and shouting when a pen is being lined up? The Irish who are most precious about it soon forget to hold their breath when the last minute, game winning penalty is against them. (Parks for Scotland a couple of years back and Halfpenny last season for Wales). If they can't stick to it, don't see why anybody else should.
100% agree with this. Can't stand it myself.
Also thought that the jeering after any mistake left a lot to be desired too.
Wade and Varndell are lethal in space and poor Phil Mackenzie was exposed for what he really is - a centre. Never let Wade and Varndell double gang you!!!!!!
Good luck for the future - you deserve another chance next season.
You'll not make many friends at away grounds if you keep doing that - hopefully it was just a bit of mistiming
I agree with you on this. However, they did stop just before the kick was taken. That said mind they should not have been singing during the build up to the kick being taken. Very, very embarrassed about that happening.
I have to comment though that there were a number of youngsters in the same stand that did not have any respect for any kickers throughout the whole game. They need to be adviced on how to conduct themselves at a rugby match. PADDYTAF.
"GIVE THEM NO BALL OR BAD BALL WELSH"
On Sunday we should have kept the game tight (i know this is not our style of play) but let's be honest we had the WASPS pack well in control and by keeping it tight we may, just may have got our BP and who knows an unlikely WIN. PADDYTAF.
"GIVE THEM NO BALL OR BAD BALL WELSH"
You'll not make many friends at away grounds if you keep doing that - hopefully it was just a bit of mistiming
I agree with you on this. However, they did stop just before the kick was taken. That said mind they should not have been singing during the build up to the kick being taken. Very, very embarrassed about that happening.
I have to comment though that there were a number of youngsters in the same stand that did not have any respect for any kickers throughout the whole game. They need to be adviced on how to conduct themselves at a rugby match. PADDYTAF.
"GIVE THEM NO BALL OR BAD BALL WELSH"[/quote]
Total utter rubbish
"GIVE THEM NO BALL OR BAD BALL WELSH"
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