By Sparkie
September 2 2002

Jonny Wilkinson sank Wasps almost singlehandedly at Kingston Park. He was aided and abetted by Wasps tendency to kill the ball and referee Robin Goodliffe's wholehearted disapproval of it. Wasps failed to convert several chances in the opening 60 minutes, succumbing to a closing ordeal by penalties. A summertime IRB edict ordered closer scrutiny of the breakdown area. Peter Scrivener, commentating on an equally drab affair (LI v. Bath) a few hundred miles to the south, unwittingly nailed Wasps failings: "You have to play the ref," was his sagacious comment. Instead, with Newcastle racking up the pressure, Wasps gave away 27 penalties and gifted the match to the hosts. The final nail in the coffin was hammered home when Lawrence Dallaglio was sin-binned for a trademark smothering tactic.

Wasps coach Warren Gatland said: "We've only got ourselves to blame. Our discipline was terrible and you can't afford that against a kicker like Jonny Wilkinson. We made some openings in the match but there really aren't many positives to take away - our discipline was bad and we didn't take our chances." We'll see if the penny has dropped come the visit of Bristol.

Josh Lewsey and Mark Denney scored converted tries but each time Wilkinson kept the scoreboard turning over as we squandered several scoring oportunities - Denney, Logan, Abbott and Roiser all had clearcut chances. Expansivity is what we want as spectators but perhaps a sprinkling of pragmaticity is required à la Wilko at the same time.

MelE summed it up potently on the message board:

According to reports, Wasps' pack dominated and the team had all the attacking ideas scoring 2 tries to nil. Apparently Budgies did not remotely look like scoring a try. BUT WASPS STILL LOST!

The same old problems persist. Indiscipline and not taking opportunities. Shane dropped a scoring pass on an overlap and LBND held onto the ball with support at hand. At this level you have to take the chances when you get them. Also a penalty count 25-7 in favour of Newcastle is plain stupidity against a kicker like Wilkinson.

Last season Dowd gave away more penalties than any other player in the Premiership (33), with Corp close behind on 31 (Source: International Rugby News). If LBND had played a full season I'm sure he would have pushed them close. Interestingly Leicester did not have anyone in the top 10 offenders. Then again they are all at it, but better practiced at getting away with it. Let's hope they get it right for the next match.

To which GD added:

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Newcastle started getting more ball in the last quarter due to Wasps just looking thoroughy p****d off with the penalty count. Consequently Howley didn't get the chance to do much other than watch Wilkinson boot the ball over his head.

In an interview with Howley in one of the papers on Friday or Saturday the interviewer mentioned that Rob was sitting there with an ice pack on his shoulder having taken a heavy knock in training. There was some comment along the lines of, "I could have done without this". I was pleasantly surprised with just how sharp he looked for the first hour. He created a try within the first 25 minutes of his Wasps career. That'll do for starters. If the players are angry enough, and the weather stays kind, I reckon he could look fantastic this Sunday.

Amen to that. A slight silver lining was grabbed when Kinga kicked a late penalty goal to grab a deserved bonus point. Rustiness prevented it from being a five pointer.

The Budgie's eye view