Wasps
Victory is ours
Happy Days
By canadianwaspsfan77
September 8 2009
Wasps started the 2009-2010 season with a 26-15 win over Harlequins for our opening fixture on 5th September. Wasps normally have a slow start to the season and make a charge to the top of the table in the New Year, but this year could be different under new Director of Rugby, Tony Hanks.
There was some grumblings that Wasps should have put more points on the board against a 14 man Harlequins squad for 79 minutes and 14 seconds. Harlequins may have felt that they had a point to prove with their summer of shame, but they didn't burnish their reputation with Robson's sending off for a head butt on Joe Simpson. It is clear that referees are cracking down on thuggery after Schalk Burger's shameful gouging that only received a yellow card on the second Lions test.
Wasps had six new faces on the pitch and key combinations didn't have much pre-season time together. Here are my rankings:
15 Mark Van Gisbergen (Eng) -- 7 a perennial fans' favourite, Gizzy had a solid game. He missed one penalty and a conversion and looked a bit shaky under the high ball at the beginning of the game, but proved to be steady as the game progressed with nice kick and chases. His ability to remove the goal kicking pressure on Cipriani was invaluable.
14 Tom Varndell (Eng) -- 7 One of the high profile signings made of the summer, TV2 is looking to stake a place in the England set-up and hoping that the tutelage of Shaun Edwards and Wasps will give him the edge over his rivals. TV2 added 10 points to the score board and showed that he is a strong finisher with a superb second try showing great strength to ground the ball. Wasps missed having a clinical finisher last season with Sackey's injuries and England call-ups. However, TV2 has a lot of work to do with his positioning on the wing and his positioning contributed to a Quins try. Hopefully, he will gain confidence with his centres and trust them to make the mid-field tackles and be in the right place on the wing. Many of the same comments were levelled against Sackey when he first came to Wasps and the boy came good!
13 Ben Jacobs (Aus) -- 6 Another new signing, this time from Saracens, Jacobs seemed to hold his own in the mid field tackling those who came as way, but didn't provide the lovely running lines that Waldouck seems to conjure up when he wears 13.
12 Steve Kefu (Aus) -- 7 Signed from Castres Olympique, there are high hopes that he can produce magic at inside centre like Riki Flutey. He tackled well and seemed to fix his man to assist Danny Cipriani with distributing and running with the ball.
11 David Lemi (Sam) --6 Signed this summer from Bristol, the ball didn't seem to make its way to his wing and it seemed to frustrate him with a questionable tackle on Strettle. There are high hopes for Wasps to make the most of his prolific try scoring ability.
10 Danny Cipriani (Eng) -- 7 Danny had surgery this summer to remove the plate from his ankle to get back to full running fitness. There were concerns about whether he was really ready to start, but DC showed some lovely touches of the ball. He seemed a bit hesitant to run with the ball in hand like in the 2007/2008 season, but he is still finding his feet and learning to trust his new centres.
9 Joe Simpson (Eng) -- 8 The other teams in the GP should be frightened if Simmo was playing most of the game with a concussion. He wasn't too fazed by Robson's bullying.
1 Tim Payne (Eng) -- 6 The pack seemed to struggle for most of the game against the reduced Harlequins pack. Payne didn't do anything to stand out to me.
2 Rob Webber (Eng) -- 6 Most of the line out throws were good. Well done for standing up to Robson when he kicked off, but not losing his head to be carded too.
3 Gabriel Bocca (Arg) -- 5 Seemed to struggle in the scrum. He was strong in the pre-season, but he was found wanting in this game. Broster took over in the second half.
4 George Skivington (Eng) -- 6 Good presence in the lineout and helped provide oomph in the driving mauls.
5 Richard Birkett (Eng) --6 It will be a tough call to decide who will pair with Shaw when he returns to the starting line up.
6 John Hart (Eng) -- 6, Tackled valiantly, but will cede to Worsley when he returns
7 Serge Betsen (c) (Fra) --- 8 terrorised Quins with a vigour that belied his age. The MOTM.
8 Dan Ward-Smith (Eng) --- 7 A few good runs and a key line out steal.
There are some big names missing from the team sheet: Shaw, Vickery, Worsley, Rees, Waldouck, and Sackey. I feel that on paper we have the strongest team in the premiership. Hopefully Hanks and Edwards will be able to
08/09/2009 10:19
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Keep 'em coming.
I think, therefore I am a Waspie.
I thought Jacobs deserved a 7 rather than a 6, I thought he had a good game, picked some good lines, and made a fantastic line break. He and Kefu seemed to gel better and better as the game went on.
Good piece CW77. I think Cips gave a glimpse of his old form for 60 mins. With Dom back, Cips'll feel much more at home, too.
KevinTheB
www.justgiving.com/kevinbroadbent
Christchurch Wasp Esq.
!!Everytime Ref, Everytime!!
1 Tim Payne 6/10 Had an ok game, did plenty of work in the loose but never gained any kind of advantage against Lambert in the scrums.
2 Rob Webber 7/10 Good work in the loose, and line outs were very good.
3 Gabriel Bocca 4/10 For a guy whos impressed with his scrummaging in pre-season he was very disappointing. Our scrum was under pressure until the minute he went off and this was against a 7 man scrum.
4 George Skivington 8/10 He and Birkett stole several line outs from Quins (understandable when they are lacking a lock) and were sound in all other areas.
5 Richard Birkett 8/10 Same as Skivs.
6 John Hart 8/10 I personally thought he had an excellent game. Massively involved in defence and made several carries. Looked like the Hart of a few seasons ago before he busted his shoulder playing Bath.
7 Serge Betsen © 8/10 Involved all over the pitch. Tackled, tackled and tackled again.
8 Dan Ward-Smith 5/10 I didnt really notice him to be honest.
9 Joe Simpson 8/10 Had an ok first half, followed by a blinding second half. Quick and energetic his length of the field break was a joy to behold. Is without a doubt our first choice scrumhalf. My MOTM.
10 Danny Cipriani 8/10 Same as Simpson, had an ok first half, followed by a very good second half. Took the wrong option on a few occasions (I wish hed stop trying the little dink over the top to himself its success rate is very low) but showed his class on others. His pass to Varndell for the first try was very slick.
11 David Lemi 5/10 Seemed isolated on his wing, and made a horrendous attempt to pick the ball up one handed near his own line with several Quins players bearing down on him. Id like to see him come off his wing and get involved a little more.
12 Steve Kefu 6/10 In attack he was pretty good some nice straight running and flat passes, but was weak in the tackle I felt.
13 Ben Jacobs 7/10 Same as Kefu, but an extra mark as I thought he was stronger in defence.
14 Tom Varndell 7/10 Scored two great tries and showed his gas on several occasions, but was very poor in defence. Sackey or Josh wouldnt have let Camacho go through them like that and it wasnt the only time he was found wanting in defence.
15 Mark van Gisbergen 7/10 Kicked his goals well considering he didnt kick at all last year, and was solid in defence and attack.
16 Joe Ward
17 Bob Baker
18 Ben Broster (for Bocca) 8/10 Came on and immediately our scrum went from under the cosh to in complete control. Should start next week.
19 Dan Leo
20 Hugo Ellis (for Hart) 4/10 Came on, gave away a penalty. That was all I noticed from him.
21 Warren Fury (for Simpson) 5/10 Not enough time to make an impact.
22 Dave Walder
23 Lachlan Mitchell
Solid under high ball and has remembered how to run the ball back far enough to get in front of his support - rarely if ever taken by the first defender.
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