Monday 12 January 2009

Quelle surprise, monsieur Edwards

Arriving at The Rec on Saturday, two hours before the hoped-for kick-off, I should have known instantly that the chances of the Bath-Wasps game going ahead were zero - a bit like the temperature.

It was clear that while one team was more than up for playing in the cold conditions, the other just wanted to be back on the bus to High Wycombe.

While the Bath forwards ran through a few set pieces behind the East Stand and a few of the backs practised some handling drills on the pitch, the Wasps players remained in the dressing room, presumably warming their delicate little hands on the radiator.

Shaun Edwards, the Wasps head coach, looked more prepared for a trip to the Paris left bank to discuss John-Paul Sartre than a rugby match. With his black beret and heavy overcoat, he struck a bizarre figure next to the tracksuited, business-as-usual Steve Meehan.

You didn't need to wait for Edwards to open his mouth to know the last thing he wanted to do was field a XV.

With such negative body language from the Wasps head coach and with his players nowhere to be seen, referee Romain Poite was effectively given the message that, if he went ahead with the match, then he would earn the undying contempt of the South East side.

Against such a background of psychological insinuation, Monsieur Poite did the inevitable and abandoned the game, less than an hour-and-a-half before kick-off, enabling Edwards and his charges to jump back on the bus and turn the heating up.

Although Bath were frustrated not to be able to play their old adversaries, they should take heart from Wasps' admission of vulnerability. They proved themselves a side unprepared to face up to a challenge.

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