Gallagher Premiership 2019/20 pt 2

Brookes is actually a big loss for us. He has been playing superbly. The S & C lads have changed his body shape & IMO he’s back to his best which earned him England caps.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:McIntyre, Brookes, Shields and Barbaery are the 4 first teamers affected. Clearly a big impact to the scrum so they'll be in for a very tough day. Shields has been very impressive at 8 in tandem with Youngs and Willis as well (Willis the younger is now in).

Real shame for Barbaery, very early stages to his career but he looks to the manor born.

Isn't West the better scrummager but McIntyre the better all rounder? Brookes isn't a particularly good prop so losing him won't be a massive blow though his one big carry every five phases will be missed. Hits what they've got on the bench though so the second half could be tough.

I'd have liked to see Barbeary come off the bench in this one, shame he's out. He could make something out of nothing ball in hand. Be tough to do that against Chiefs mind.

The Rowlands/Launchbury, Willis/Young and Umaga/Gopperth combinations were the key ones in the Wasps side so good to see they are all there.

Thinking more down to that's 2 first team squad props gone in an area you'd suspect exeter will target anyway. You're right about West I think though I've seen McIntyre have some very good days in the scrum.

Agree about your key partnerships too.

Yeah the second half could be really tough with the two props missing. The Wasps scrum looks a lot more solid with Launchbury and Rowlands at lock, a lot of weight there. As long as they can just survive in that area and not concede penalties I think Wasps will be satisfied.

McIntyre I find an odd player. I'm not a Wasps fan so I don't see every game but he just seems inconsistent. He'll have a really strong showing in tight and loose one week and then be folded up and anonymous in the loose the next. At 29 he should be in his peak as a prop, if he can just find some consistency and stay fit it would definitely benefit Wasps.

They should build a roof over Twickenham. Too many games are ruined by poor weather.

Greasy.

Slade is such a class act. Hopefully he will get a good run with England given Manu is injured.

Not much of a game so far but Exeter looking more dominant. Willis isn't offering a lot for Wasps.

Chiefs are on top at the scrum but not as dominant as expected so far ...

The weather has really put a downer on the game.

2nd turnover by Willis in an area where Exeter normally just walk it in.

Very fortunate to win it. Never supporting his body weight.

Please tell me the officials got that wrong. You should not be allowed to jump from off the field of play, catch the ball when it has crossed the line but then be OK because you lied within the field of play. If you can, the law is an ass.

rugby racing and beer wrote:Very fortunate to win it. Never supporting his body weight.

If you get away with it, which he does consistently, then you are fine.

I am biased, because I detest Wasps (there is no team in any sport I like less), but c'mon Chiefs.

LondonTiger wrote:Please tell me the officials got that wrong. You should not be allowed to jump from off the field of play, catch the ball when it has crossed the line but then be OK because you lied within the field of play. If you can, the law is an ass.

The ball is not in touch or touch-in-goal if:
A player jumps, from within or outside the playing area, and catches the ball, and then lands in the playing area, regardless of whether the ball reached the plane of touch.

LondonTiger wrote:

rugby racing and beer wrote:Very fortunate to win it. Never supporting his body weight.

If you get away with it, which he does consistently,  then you are fine.

Not sure about that. Cheating is cheating.

Anyway, the conditions have ruined the spectacle today. Shame.

Willis rightly pinged this time. Bit of a penalty machine.

There was a key period just after Sopoaga came on. Exeter threw the lineout over the top, Wasps had it wide and got to the outside. They made 3 mistakes in succession. First was a loose pass that went to ground. Then came a knock on. Then Willis pointlessly ran round the side of the ruck and gave away the penalty (which Sopoaga caught acrobatically).

That for me is enough evidence that Wasps don't have what it takes to win this game. Far too wasteful with what little of that game they've had.

What a kick Slade.

Last 10 minutes now. You just wonder if someone like Gopperth might end up having a big say in how this game goes. Just a moment of experienace.

Crazy decision to go for the corner against the Chiefs of all teams. Poor captaincy. Decides the game.

Those calls to the tail are really poor with the conditions and Wasps lacking jumpers.

They've had nothing all game. Should have gone for the posts. Draw the game and stay in the competition. All or bust was always going to be the latter given how poor the conditions have been and how good Exeter are.

Heads have gone now. Discipline's disappeared. Game over.

It's a game where Umaga will learn a lot from. Real mixed bag from him. Great finish for his try and some excellent touch finding kicks but was not playing the conditions at all. Robson on the other hand was great. I doubted he would go as well in these conditions in this sort of big game but he was excellent. Both packs were good on the whole. Shame it wasnt dry as wed have got a bit more of a spectacle.

Wasps were never going to win that arm wrestle far too wasteful. We gave it a good go and plenty to be pleased with this season. Exeter fully deserved the double. Willis did prove his worth and worked his socks off and it was noticeable the commentary didn't mention the Exeter backrow as much as they normally do so our backrow did a good job keeping us in it. Let's hope for a great season starting in a few weeks. London tiger I wish leicester all the luck for next season because you might need it if Newcastle are any good

rugby racing and beer wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:

rugby racing and beer wrote:Very fortunate to win it. Never supporting his body weight.

If you get away with it, which he does consistently,  then you are fine.

Not sure about that. Cheating is cheating.

Anyway, the conditions have ruined the spectacle today. Shame.

There is very rarely any spectacle involving Exeter. The success of their anti-rugby tactics will encourage others to copy which will ruin the game even further.

Always been more than 1 way to skin a cat.

So Robson was told by Eddie he needs to play in more big games like this. So how has Heinze got in the squad?

I thought he had a good game to be honest. Clearly Spencer and Robson should be our 9s.

Willis again highlighting the conundrum of picking him, would a southern hemisphere referee (new regs or not) allow him the same freedom at the breakdown he is afforded by Prem refs?

Soul Requiem wrote:Willis again highlighting the conundrum of picking him, would a southern hemisphere referee (new regs or not) allow him the same freedom at the breakdown he is afforded by Prem refs?

It is the conundrum with Willis I agree. He's got the physical and mental attributes to be a great backrow on the international stage but he plays on the wrong side of the line a little too often. Sometimes he concedes silly penalties just by pushing his luck and often around halfway. A little bit more experience and some fine tuning with England could see him really come on I think.

If he can carry a little more and shift to 8 a bit then a Underhill/Curry/Willis combo for England could do a lot of damage.

Yoda wrote:Wasps were never going to win that arm wrestle far too wasteful. We gave it a good go and plenty to be pleased with this season. Exeter fully deserved the double. Willis did prove his worth and worked his socks off and it was noticeable the commentary didn't mention the Exeter backrow as much as they normally do so our backrow did a good job keeping us in it. Let's hope for a great season starting in a few weeks. London tiger I wish leicester all the luck for next season because you might need it if Newcastle are any good

Were those their first choice prop forwards? They're still pretty good tbh, Blackett has done a great job in a short space of time.

Exiledinborders wrote:

rugby racing and beer wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:

rugby racing and beer wrote:Very fortunate to win it. Never supporting his body weight.

If you get away with it, which he does consistently,  then you are fine.

Not sure about that. Cheating is cheating.

Anyway, the conditions have ruined the spectacle today. Shame.

There is very rarely any spectacle involving Exeter. The success of their anti-rugby tactics will encourage others to copy which will ruin the game even further.

Not sure about that. Plenty of positivity in turning down 3 pointers for tries. Exeter is English rugby (nearly) at its best tbh. The only thing they lack is, probably, a bit more explosive power and more reliance on a kicking game.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:Willis again highlighting the conundrum of picking him, would a southern hemisphere referee (new regs or not) allow him the same freedom at the breakdown he is afforded by Prem refs?

It is the conundrum with Willis I agree. He's got the physical and mental attributes to be a great backrow on the international stage but he plays on the wrong side of the line a little too often. Sometimes he concedes silly penalties just by pushing his luck and often around halfway. A little bit more experience and some fine tuning with England could see him really come on I think.

If he can carry a little more and shift to 8 a bit then a Underhill/Curry/Willis combo for England could do a lot of damage.

All of that sounds like he's 18 months away from bursting on to the scene with England. Tidy up his game for Wasps and he'll walk straight in to the team when someone gets injured.