Buck's Bucks trip goes pear-shaped

Stormin' Rhino
By Sparkie
September 23 2002

Predictions of a tight contest went west when Saracens all but failed to reappear for the second half. The match was running true to form right up until then with Wasps leading by a mere three points with Martyn Wood in the sin-bin.

Sorries comedy of errors papered over Wasps' own cracks to such an extent that their fans had no option but to head for the bar to stare at the bottom of their beer pots long before the end. The turning point had to be Woody's sin-binning for running pell-mell into the back of a ruck and clocking the hit-magnet, Richard Hill. It forced a radical rethink to our game plan - robust, direct forward play. Either side of half-time we added ten points and the game was up for Sorries.

Wasps' first convincing 40 minutes of rugby secured a second 4-try bonus point and we sit fourth in the Premiership, second top scorers. In hindsight, dropped points on our travels have cost us top place and Warren Gatland must address this before next weekend's trip to the Madejski Stadium.

As for Sorries, after a post-match post mortem in a Wycombe hostelry they enjoy an extra day's training today. Craig Dowd (twice), Josh Lewsey, Lawrence Dallaglio and Jon Rudd send their hearty thanks.

Match report to follow

or see Large's perspective