Haskell looks too heavy

THERE were plenty of talking points from the Northampton-Wasps match on Saturday. First, that wrongly disallowed try by Dan Robson and the referee Luke Pearce’s comment (to Joe Launchbury) that he trusts his team just as the Wasps captain trusts his team. I get what Pearce was saying but I’m not sure the comparison is valid. Pearce, one of the best young refs, was badly let down by two of his team. The touch judge made the wrong call about Robson being in touch and put his flag up, which can happen, but the TMO should have come in immediately. Decisions on the validity of a try are the raison d’etre of the TMO and they can intervene without waiting to be asked by the referee. When you work as a team of players you are the only side affected by your actions and decisions. But it’s not quite the same for a team of officials. Their decisions affect both teams, the allocation of points in the league, promotion and relegation, etc. It’s a big responsibility and when the opportunity presents itself they should take a few seconds to doublecheck a crucial try decision. Elsewhere, I loved it at the end when Willie le Roux, who had enjoyed a cracking match, gave one of his colleagues a right earful for kicking the ball out aimlessly on 80 minutes. Le Roux was there to entertain, Wasps were in a purple patch of form, so why just kick the ball out? Finally, despite a fine Wasps performance, James Haskell is not quite himself and you can see why Eddie Jones has not included him in the England squad. He looks too muscular and heavy to me and is not making the impact he has in recent seasons.