I can now safely write what I had been fearing for a long time. Wasps are on the way down, or away or possibly out.
Here is the evidence:
On 17 June Maud Muir, one of the Swarm’s brightest lights, became the latest in a longish line of international players to move away.
On 15 July Giselle Mather, the distinguished DoR, announced her decision to retire. It might have been seen as inevitable after her long and distinguished stint (two, in fact) with the club. But she could see which way the tide was running.
Since then more have left the club: Claudia Macdonald and Cliodhna Moloney, both hoovered up by ambitious Exeter, Ellie Boatman to local rivals Quins, and Claire Molloy back to her old haunts at Bristol. And on the latest Irish squad list Sam Monaghan’s club is listed as TBC, so we can safely assume she is choosing her best option too.
Home from Home
Derek Richardson, the Irish owner of Wasps men’s club, had long been looking for a proper stadium for his players to perform in. He selected the (then) Ricoh Arena in North Coventry.
The women’s section was left stranded in Acton, West London, on a ground that had belonged to the North Thames Gas Board. Its facilities left something to be desired.
Now there are strong rumours of a move to join the menfolk in Coventry. The most obvious problem is to persuade the players to join in the migration. The huge difference is that they, unlike the men, are almost all amateur; so that means jeopardising a career. And the men’s club has been wallowing in debt for years. Between 2015 and 2020 they showed a loss of millions every year bar one.
Wasps women have been caught in a cleft stick ever since an expensive new training centre at Henley-in Arden, Warwickshire, was opened months ago; the aim was for them to train there on a regular basis, though how they were to commute from London was less than clear.
The recent announcement of a Women and Girls development day on 23 July only adds to the geographical uncertainty. It takes place at Kenilworth RFC, also in Warwickshire.
If the hope is to build a new-look squad in Coventry, they need only look at the travails of other clubs hoping to break into the elite level. It is a vertical jump that few can achieve.
Even with all the talent they possessed last season – I haven’t mentioned Abby Dow, Bryony Cleall, Meg Jones, Celia Quansah or Harriet Millar-Mills – they could finish only fifth, such was the level of competition.
Setting this news against the RFU’s 10-year plan for the Prem 15s is tricky. Can we assume that all will go well for the new-look Wasps, either in London or Coventry? Will they match the twin requirements of onfield playing strength and minimum operating standards in the back room? If not, what then? The RFU has not yet cut a club adrift beyond the breaks in the 3-year cycles it imposed.
When it moved in to assist DMPDS last season, the effects were less than obvious.
Wasps, like the one London club to be ejected in 2020, Richmond, has a long history of commitment to the women’s game, going back nearly 40 years. We can only hope it will all turn out well in the end.
