Wasps v Leinster date announced
By Dobbin
January 24 2013
ERC have announced that Wasps' Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final against Leinster will take place on Friday 5th April at 8pm at Adams Park. It's not the weekend afternoon game that many would have been hoping for, but at least we haven't been consigned to the Thursday night slot, rugby's equivalent of the graveyard shift. That honour goes to Gloucester.
This will be the fourth European meeting between the sides, who have five Heineken Cup victories between them. The first of these meetings, a 2007 quarter-final, was also played at Adams Park, Wasps winning 35-13 and scoring four tries into the bargain, two of them by current Leinster scrum-half Eoin Reddan. Danny Cipriani (who came in for a few verbals from certain Leinster players, I seem to remember) and James Haskell scored the other tries.
In 2008/9, the two sides were drawn in the same group. At a soggy RDS in Dublin, Leinster powered to a 41-11 victory, scoring six tries into the bargain. The game was notable for not very much, from a Wasps perspective, except for the short-lived tactic of keeping a forward (memory has blessedly fogged to the extent that I can't remember who) back to field the barrage of high balls raining down onto the edge of Wasps' 22. As the scoreline testifies, the tactic didn't exactly yield a Rorke's Drift kind of return.
Wasps' home match against Leinster was played in front of 33,000 people at Twickenham. Wasps won 19-12, a scoreline which flattered the visitors, but it was Leinster who went on to win the trophy that year, pipping Leicester for the first of their three Heineken Cup victories.
So, Wasps lead the series 2-1, having not lost to Leinster on English soil. The reigning European champions aren't exactly what you'd call a reward for having earned a home draw, but their visit is sure to whet the appetite even of those who can't usually rouse themselves for matches in Europe's second tier competition. If Wasps win, they'll not only maintain their home record against the visitors, but they'll have a home semi-final, possibly against the more familiar faces of Gloucester. Funnily enough, we've also played them in a Heineken Cup quarter-final.
It must be an omen.
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All the best to the players and lets get a full house.
COYW
[www.wasps.co.uk]
You forgot that 3 of our 4 tries in the QF came while we were a man down, Lol and then Dom in the bin
Quote:Heathen
You have to credit the club for trying to fill the ground with some very attractive ticket pricing.
[www.wasps.co.uk]
I could not agree more and really hope it comes off but combo of time of match and location of AP makes it difficult unless you have planty of time friday afternoon
BOD also scored a wonderful try where he volleyed the ball out of Staunton's hands and over his head to collect and score.
A Friday is better than a Thursday, yes, but I'll be hard-pressed to get out of London for it!
I'm going to take leave or 'work from home'.
Sunday would have been ideal for us as we're up in the Lake District for a few days between this and Safracens.
Cheers
Rick
@W2APS on twitter, the chap with the banners and flags.
The Wasps Blog
Twitter: @thewaspsblog
Don't drink too much on the train though.