FT: 42--23 -- Wasps' Pack Turns Screw on Quins

KEENLY LOOKING ON
By Vespasian
September 17 2006

On an unusually bright and balmy mid-September afternoon, Harlequins were out of the traps earlier than thei hosts, London Wasps. Adrian Jarvis fluffed a first minute penalty but made amends to open the scoring on four minutes.

Wasps' pack then exerted some sustained pressure, but poor execution close to Quins line led to several missed opportunities. With Simon Shaw driving like a tyro and making inroads, the pack eventually rumbled over the line with Dan Leo scoring at the bottom of the pile. Dave Walder added the extras.

Quins found one of Wasps' known achilles heels, the restart. Scrappy ball led to a Quins scrum and Ugo Monye sped in out wide to put Quins back in front, less than a minute later.

Great handling between Shaw and Leo put Tom Palmer away, but Wasps' new lock fumbled an off-load as the line beckoned. The black and gold pack was now in the ascendant, winning a free kick and a full penalty on engangement of the scrum in quick succession. Walder's kick restored Wasps' lead on 25 minutes.

Andre Vos received a yellow card as Quins loose forwards struggled to contain Wasps' marauders, who set up another quick forward drive. Captain, John Hart, finished of an unmerciful passage of speedy recycling. Walder again bisected the sticks. Shortly afterwards, Rob Hoadley made way for David Doherty.

Vos's return steadied the Battenburger's ship as another Jarvis penalty allowed Quins to claw the deficit back to an unlikely six points with half-time but three minutes away. Wasps grabbed a deserved two score lead in stoppage time through Walder's third success out of four. The half came to a close with a super cover tackle from Joe Worsley as Keough and Jarvis threatened to take advantage of a gap in the defence.

It was a repeat performance upon the resumption. Paul Volley's inevitable cigarette break arrived in the 47th minute. Walder added another three points and converted Paul Sackey's score by the posts as thoughts turned to a five pointer.

18 minutes later, Sackey duly secured the BP and Alex King, on for Walder, converted. Quins had been reduced to 14 players for the third time when Hal Luscombe had to go to the cooler.

The final dozen minutes resembled a training match as Wasps hunted for more tries and Quins earned some belated respectability. Nick Easter finished off a Quins break on 69 minutes. Peter Bracken rounded off a magnificent performance by Wasps' tight five with a well taken try. And right at the death, Hal Luscombe raised Shaun Edwards' bloodpressure with a third try to Quins.

London Wasps top the table. Quins remain rock bottom, with Leicester, Llanelli and Sale to come. Dean Richards will be looking to bolster his lightweight pack on this showing. Shades of 2004-2005 aren't their favourite colours.

London Wasps: 15 Tom Voyce; 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Ayoola Erinle, 12 Jeremy Staunton, 11 Rob Hoadley; 10 Dave Walder, 9 Eoin Redda; 1 Tim Payne, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Peter Bracken, 4 Simon Shaw, 5 Tom Palmer, 6 Daniel Leo, 7 Joe Worsley, 8 John Hart

Bench: 16 Joe Ward, 17 Ali McKenzie, 18 Tom Rees, 19 James Haskell, 20 Simon Amor, 21 Alex King, 22 David Doherty

Harlequins: 15 Tom Williams; 14 Ugo Monye, 13 Hal Luscombe, 12 Mel Deane, 11 Simon Keogh; 10 Adrian Jarvis, 9 Steve So'oialo; 1 Ceri Jones, 2 James Hayter, 3 Ricky Nebbett, 4 Jim Evans, 5 Nicolas Spanghero, 6 Andre Vos, 7 Paul Volley, 8 Chris Hala'ufia

Bench: 16. Jimmy Richards 17. Mike Ross 18. Olly Kohn 19. Nick Easter 20. Tom Guest 21. Danny Care 22. Gavin Duffy