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#Post#: 149823--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gatland
DIR By: Banstead Quin
Date: February 21, 2026, 4:25 am
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--- Quote from: JammyGit link ---
>
> Cipriani was after Gatland's tenure.
>
> Wasps under Gatland went from bottom of the table to triple
Premiership winners, Challenge Cup winners, and Heineken Cup
winners. They played a high risk defence and some excellent
attacking rugby - Alex King, Fraser Waters, Mark van Gisbergen,
Josh Lewsey, Tom Voyce, Phil Greening, Lawrence Dallaglio et al
were never going to be a boring kick-it-away side. Especially as
prior to the ELVs in 2007 the sport wasn't quite so focused on
kick tennis.
>
> 2002/03 - Wasps scored 55 tries (3rd) behind Glaws (67) and
Sale (61), and had 6 try bonus points (3rd behind both). They
absolutely walloped Glaws in the final 39-3, which I went to,
and was a pretty sad day given Glaws got caught cold having not
had to play a semi final
>
> 2003/04 - Wasps scored 59 tries (2nd), 2 fewer than Saints,
and had 6 try bonus points (=1). They put 57 on Saints in the
semi final but the final was a dour affair.
>
> 2004/05 - Wasps scored 59 tries (2nd), 16(!) fewer than
Tigers, and had 6 try bonus points (2nd). They won their semi
43-22 and beat Tigers 39-14 in the final.
>
> They scored a lot of tries and played great rugby. They were
founded on their ridiculous blitz defence but that team was
great to watch; I was at the Heineken final where they beat a
ridiculous all-star Toulouse side (outscoring them 3 tries to 1
- although one of them was _that_ Howley score in Poitrenaud
corner...) and it was not boring for a second.
>
> Tigers and Gloucester were pretty kick-heavy in those days
because they were very forwards-focused teams. Wasps were
different.
>
--- End Quote ---
Wow, I thought I saw smoke coming out of Wikipedia towers, or
are you a closet pests fan???
My poor memory also remembers the Cheats scoring more tries than
anyone else during their golden cheating years but would you
call them a great attacking side? And just to be arsey, didn't
that Howley try come from a kick???
But anyway, if some of you are happy with Gatland, crack on and
if it works then we're all happy but if it goes how I think it
will, we will be no further forward and lost a year to 18
months. I think someone mentioned earlier that if he's such a
hot draw, why are we the only club talking to him?
#Post#: 149824--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gatland
DIR By: DOK
Date: February 21, 2026, 5:20 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, but what's the choice? Hanging on in quiet desperation is
the English way? [emoji4]
How long do we let the current situation fester in the hope of
an improved DOR sometime in the future? (and that not
guaranteed).
So if you (that's a you in general, not anyone in particular)
don't want Gatland either put forward someone we could
realistically get at the moment or state how many months you're
prepared to wait.
Personally, if there is a better realistic candidate this side
of next season, then I'm prepared to wait that long. But it is
going to cost us in reputation, in money and in crowds.
#Post#: 149826--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gatland
DIR By: FrostAndFire
Date: February 21, 2026, 5:39 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: DOK link ---
>
> Yeah, but what's the choice? Hanging on in quiet desperation
is the English way? [emoji4]
> How long do we let the current situation fester in the hope of
an improved DOR sometime in the future? (and that not
guaranteed).
> So if you (that's a you in general, not anyone in particular)
don't want Gatland either put forward someone we could
realistically get at the moment or state how many months you're
prepared to wait.
> Personally, if there is a better realistic candidate this side
of next season, then I'm prepared to wait that long. But it is
going to cost us in reputation, in money and in crowds.
>
--- End Quote ---
Ideally, we want someone by the summer, which does limit
potential candidates. BUT, surely it's better to wait, accept a
few more months of terrible results and get the right candidate
rather than rush to the wrong one and lose another three years
and see more of our upcoming players poached because Quins is
failing.
#Post#: 149827--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gatland
DIR By: A222Quin
Date: February 21, 2026, 6:07 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Yareet link ---
>
> Just to ferry him around?
>
--- End Quote ---
Probably missed the boat on that deal. Still, any port in a
storm.
#Post#: 149828--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gatland
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: February 21, 2026, 6:14 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Banstead Quin link ---
>
> Wow, I thought I saw smoke coming out of Wikipedia towers, or
are you a closet pests fan???
>
> My poor memory also remembers the Cheats scoring more tries
than anyone else during their golden cheating years but would
you call them a great attacking side? And just to be arsey,
didn't that Howley try come from a kick???
>
> But anyway, if some of you are happy with Gatland, crack on
and if it works then we're all happy but if it goes how I think
it will, we will be no further forward and lost a year to 18
months. I think someone mentioned earlier that if he's such a
hot draw, why are we the only club talking to him?
>
--- End Quote ---
I was unaffiliated, so to speak, before Quins got promoted and a
friend joined the club which is when I became a supporter. I
spent a lot of time watching and enjoying club rugby before then
as a genuine neutral. As one of the London-ish teams I went to
see Wasps a decent number of times, plus they did genuinely have
a great "story" in those days - that European cup run was
legendary, their victory over Tigers where they immediately just
piled straight into the reserve scrum half, Dallaglio being an
incredible leader, the rivalry they had with Tigers (who
genuinely disliked them), the Shaun Edwards factor... They
weren't quite the same but it was similar to how I enjoyed
watching Wigan Warriors on Sky as a kid.
Gloucester's brief time in the sun and associated heartbreak was
also a good story. There's a lot of "what might have been" about
them; they had some quality forwards like Vickery, but mostly a
bunch of guys in that era who all seemed like missed
opportunities - Jamie Forrester, James Simpson-Daniel, Anthony
Allen, Ollie Morgan, etc etc.
I just really liked the good bits of English club rugby!
Anyway, I didn't know those numbers off the top of my head or
anything but they do track my memory of how that Wasps team
played. And in those days the idea of a team that just kicked it
away and didn't want the ball wasn't really a thing, that was
very much a consequence of later law changes and the development
of better box kicks and much better aerial competitors on the
wing. No one played like Saracens back then, but several teams
played like Tigers. Wasps weren't one of them though!
I also have no problem with criticising modern Gatland, his last
3 teams have absolutely stunk the place out in terms of style
and results. Absolutely no question it would be a gamble.
(edit: And yes, the Howley try came from a kick - Howley got the
ball right on the wing with nothing on, stuck a grubber through,
and Poitrenaud made an incredible error of judgment. Great
moment, but just some individual brilliance and that's the
reason why I said "outscoring them 3 tries to 1 - although one
of them was _that_ Howley score in Poitrenaud corner" - emphasis
on the 'although'!)
#Post#: 149833--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gatland
DIR By: Quinky
Date: February 21, 2026, 7:24 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: A222Quin link ---
>
> Probably missed the boat on that deal. Still, any port in a
storm.
>
--- End Quote ---
Did he go to Sail?
#Post#: 149834--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gatland
DIR By: Quinten Poulsen
Date: February 21, 2026, 7:36 am
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Trust you to stick your oar in. Err, Abbie Dhow, erm Tom Cruise.
Yacht!
The bells, the bells. I'm a alien.
#Post#: 149836--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gatland
DIR By: Quinky
Date: February 21, 2026, 8:34 am
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Anywhere that needs a Eight l. I'm sure he'd crack a few sculls.
This is where I try to use joke about the woman at the boat
race, who wanted to kiss the Cox of the winning crew.
#Post#: 149960--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gatland
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: February 22, 2026, 1:23 am
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aN alien....aN Eight....come on boys, don't let standards slip
now.
#Post#: 149983--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gatland
DIR By: SiB
Date: February 22, 2026, 7:50 am
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Confirmed yesterday that Gatland has turned down the role at
Quins
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