It’s been a little while since I’ve put pen to paper, so to speak, so a few thoughts on the month that has just passed.

• It hasn’t been great has it? The second half against Harlequins was tough watching, the premiership cup game at home against Tigers was a real mismatch and the first half against Gloucester was absolute sh*t show. I’m comfortable writing that because Lee Blackett said as much in his press conference afterwards. With a few players returning, let us hope December is a better month.

• Worcester this weekend. My closest ground, just. I’m not going. Sounds petty but as a reminder, this was the club who refused to shift the reverse fixture last season by twenty four hours to enable fans to return to the stadium, after months without being able to see any live rugby. This in a season of no relegation. If it had been at their home, I’m more than confident they’d have been happy to shift it. Shocking decision. For that reason, I’m not going to give them a penny of my money, safe travels to all that are attending.
• Talking of Worcester, do you think we will ever get to see Ryan Mills again in Wasps colours? Such a good player but he has been out for a considerable amount of time now, which must be a worry for all concerned. I suspect Wasps will need to reinforce that position next season but hope when he does come back he can remind everyone why Wasps signed him and get a good run in the team.
• Bobby Bridge put together an excellent article on the attendances at Wasps. I was initially really pleased to see a Friday night fixture as the last one I attended was the famous victory against Saracens. That though was on a mild February evening in the half term break when naturally more people were available to go. For the majority, myself included, throw in a late work finish, dreadful weather forecast and issues with transport and it’s not surprising that it resulted in a poor turnout.
• One thing that I have enjoyed this season is the hugely improved lineout. You only need to look at the number of tries Wasps are getting from this as an indication of how much every aspect of the process has improved. Credit to the coaches for the work that has gone into this, but I also think it highlights the excellent impact the two new second rows have had. The scrum, by contrast is a worry and I feel Tom West’s return is fairly critical to improving this. I’d also like to see one of the four tight heads really make that starting berth their own – I personally like JTA as an impact option so he’d always be in the 23, but who the first choice should be is very debatable. Big Biyi?
• Looking at fixtures ahead, it’s a massive month for Wasps, it really is. Big games in the league, big games in Europe. Being an optimist, I’m hopeful that if Wasps can put together an eighty minute performance that hasn’t been seen since the first game of the season and get some positive results. Hope to see some of you the Munster game, if it’s on!!

Thanks for reading.