By Tight Head
November 25 2002

Wasps lost our year long unbeaten home run against Sale this weekend and were lucky to end up with a bonus point. Once again poor decision making and a lack of either leadership or ideas allowed us to be overhauled by a side who only made slightly fewer mistakes and did the basics more competently. During the first quarter I thought things were looking up. We demonstrated some good driving and patient play to win two penalty opportunities. Kenny’s excellent tackle forced a third. Sale had a lot of possession but were unable to penetrate and harassment from our young back row gave Fraser the chance to hack through for Shane to score in the corner. From where I was sitting I was glad the referee didn’t have the fourth official to call on.

Wasps gradually let things slip from there on in. A dire lineout resulted in the first of Sale’s four tries from lock Dean Schofield, yet despite the familiar Wasps attack of 22m fever when chances went a-begging, we managed to go in 13-11 ahead at half time amidst a torrential downpour.

Mark van Gisbergen came on for Alex, who’d taken yet another bang to the head, at the interval. The opening of the second half was intensely scrappy but Sale were visibly hungrier. Just four minutes in and their other second row, Chris Jones, raced in unopposed under the posts. Less than ten minutes later and Wasps had conceded another try. Despite what appeared to be a try saving tackle from Gizmo following Going’s chip and chase, Sale retained possession for big Steve Hanley to score.

Van Gisbergen kept chipping away at Sale’s lead until the teams were level at 25 apiece. Surely not another draw! But with at least 10 minutes still on the watch everything was still to play for – for both sides. Self-inflicted disaster struck for Wasps straight from the restart when Cueto drove over the line. Final score 25-32, despite a late drop goal attempt that would have denied us even a solitary point.

This was not a team performance in the spirit of the Wasps we know and love. We desperately need Lawrence back to command the stage but also need to cultivate other leaders who can deputise in his absence. Wasps were also lacking in forward presence and any attacking edge or consistent defensive shape. Most of all we failed to retain or consolidate possession. Handling errors aside, water on the brain (or perhaps in Josh’s case peroxide poisoning) led to the continual kicking away of the ball, mainly down the throat of the most dangerous back on the park. Luckily for us Going spilled a few, but this tactic smacks of a worrying lack of confidence and determination. Leeds and Bordeaux must be licking their lips.

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Tight Head