WASPS' SHRINKING ECONOMY

 It's the question that has been taxing those in the know for a considerable time. Figures have been analysed, deficits and surpluses pored over and picked apart, interest rates examined, foreign exchanges given the once over, inflation steadily monitored. But now the picture seems to have become clear. Wasps' recession is indeed of the double-dip variety.

Early in December there were signs of growth, of the green shoots of recovery breaking through the snow smothered earth. Six wins on the trot signalled better things to come...or so we thought. But now we're in the middle of February and have recorded six defeats in our last eight starts, and face a trip to Welford Road this weekend that bodes anything but well.

The Gloucester game was as miserable as the weather. Not that it was any more miserable, in isolation, than other defeats this season, but the compound interest (or lack thereof) of Saracens, Glasgow and two games against Harlequins, seemed to be rolled up into one giant air of frustration, hovering over the Adams Park stands as Wasps surrendered another home game to the opposition with a performance that was difficult to comprehend. Gloucester's plan was pretty simple, and made even more simple to carry through by the glaring weaknesses in Wasps' game. The soft scrum. The inability to deal with high balls. The seeming confusion even from first phase ball. The tendency to concede penalties and possession whenever a head of steam looks to be building. The difference in the end was one point but, mulling over the game, that one point seems to symbolise a major gulf in confidence, execution and direction. Wasps need to dig themselves out of this hole quickly.

A trip to the reigning champions and league leaders, albeit during the Six Nations, is a daunting task when you're on form. When things have been going badly, however, and injuries are compounding your lack of options, the task becomes all the more challenging. While Northampton's charge seems to be spluttering, with defeats in their last three league games, Leicester seem to be upping the ante and drawing clear at the top of the table. Director of Rugby Richard Cockerill makes frequent reference to his club's lack of depth, and consequent inability to challenge on all the fronts required in a domestic season. Surveying the landscape, all I can say is: would that the rest of us had such problems of depth.

For Wasps, the issue this weekend is not Leicester, however, it is themselves. It sounds cliched and trite, but concentrating on their own game must be the priority from now on. They know the power, the set-piece accuracy and the directness that the Tigers will throw at them – the key is to throw something back, rather than allow confusion to develop, as it seemed to in the first half against Gloucester. We need intelligent leadership in the pack from the likes of Birkett and Hart. We need, if the conditions dictate, a tactical kicking game that does more than allow the defence to realign. We need to secure ball when it's there to be secured, rather than patting it back and letting someone else deal with the consequences. We need experienced (and expensive) players to stand up and be counted. Most of all, we need something, anything, to indicate that this recession isn't going to be a whole lot deeper than the first.

Allez Wasps!