Determined Wasps stifle sluggish Saints

Pivotal performance
By Sparkie
February 5 2003

One can usually count on a tense battle between Wasps and Northampton. The wet, blustery conditions merely served to confirm the prematch predictions. The match was won by Wasps' pack in the 37th minute when a driven lineout gave Trevor Leota the opportunity to puncture Saints' line.

A minute's silence before kickoff bade farewell to Saracens' Peter Deakin and, for those who knew him, our Oll. If the 15-minute delay to the start due to a railway bridge strike had unsettled Saints' preparation it didn't show. Certainly it had been announced to the crowd as Saints warmed up. Tellingly, both Northampton and Wasps finished their warmups within minutes of each other.

Perhaps Wayne Smith's post-match moan was just a canard, for it was Saints who took control of the early exchanges courtesy of one Wasps' achilles heels, defending a kick-off. Two Paul Grayson penalty goals sandwiched one by Alex King. Notably Wasps first score followed a strike against the head as we shunted Northampton's scrum back.

Robust defense was the order of the day and it throttled the life out of the limited amount of creativity on offer. The predicted drab kicking game seemed to be unavoidable. Another Northampton scrum was taken against the head, presaging a spell of Wasps pressure but we could not put any points on the board. A driven lineout almost allowed Rob Howley to steal a march on the blindside with Matt Dawson nowhere to be seen but the Black Fox just drifted into touch.

Kenny Logan screwed a long penalty attempt well wide at the end of the first quarter. Perhaps Geech was watching from the stands? Charitably, Grayson failed to take account of the gale blowing at his back and kicked his 22 drop-out dead. A third Northampton scrum was put under pressure and yielded Wasps a penalty which was kicked to the five metre line. Wasps' maul was driven over the line but the unsighted referee, Robin Maybank, ruled that the ball had not been grounded and Rob Howley was turned over as Wasps renewed their drive for the line.

Amazingly Grayson managed to kick the ball dead once more but minutes later Wasps returned the compliment by overthrowing a lineout on our own 22. During the resulting scramble the ball was thrown dead in a moment of high farce. Northampton's scrum-five held firm for once and they surgically opened up Wasps' backline on the second phase. Handling mistakes were costing both sides dearly, never more so than when Ben Cohen looked to have decisively come into the line off his wing. But, alas for Saints and fairweather supporters, he took his eye of the ball and dropped an easy seven points only a few metres shy of the line. He needs Twickenham to concentrate his mind.

For Wasps it was a pivotal moment. We cleared the danger and minutes later we charged down a clearance after we had hacked through and won a lineout deep into Saints' territory. This time the drive for the line was unstoppable and Leota peeled off to puncture Northampton's line. There was no mistaking the blonde bombshell's score and King converted to give Wasps a 10-6 lead. Sir Trevor was in the house.

Wasps' offensive defence pressurized Saints into turning over the restart as they tried to outflank us. The ball was deflected towards touch and was hacked on by Fraser Waters leaving Mark van Gisbergen in the clear, or so the crowd thought. However, Robin Goodliffe, the touch judge on the spot and known to us to be prone to invention, prejudged that the ball was going out and raised his flag prematurely or perhaps Waters was in touch when he made contact. The upshot was that play was halted as the crowd proffered the correct decision to the officials.

The last action of the half gave Grayson the chance to claw back three points after a maul was pulled down but he pulled his kick. Wasps were worth their four point advantage but Gats would be asking questions at half-time about our lack of scoring given the preponderance of possession won by the forwards.

Something rare happened upon the resumption. Wasps turned over Saints' ball from King's restart and Simon Shaw steamed towards the line on a diagonal run. Saints were pulled offside when we recycled quickly and King slotted his second penalty.

Northampton's tighthead prop, Matt Stewart, was sin-binned for a swinging arm but the balance was restored when Shaw was deemed to have tripped Dawson who was off on another of his quick tap and goes. There was nothing malicious in the trip but Saints' scrumhalf engineered a ten minute break for his England colleague -- Monday's England squad get together in Bagshot must have been interesting.

Handling continued to go awry despite the plethora of so-called "stik-mits" and play became increasingly bogged down in midfield as a result. Defences were still ruling the roost, a point underlined when our new winger, John Rudd, tackled England's hooker, Steve Thompson, no less and came out on top. Welcome to the Rhino, Wally! Up front Leota was playing a blinder, carrying the ball on countless occasions with our pack continuing to keep Northampton on the retreat.

Dawson's last tap and go won a penalty which was kicked by Grayson to drag Saints back into the match on 55 minutes. Northampton began to get the better of things for the first time in the match but found it tough to get in behind the Wasps backline. When Jorgensen did at last manage to arc past Waters he could not find his partner, John Leslie -- the ex-Scotland international was too close and too flat to receive the angled pass on the wing and the chance was blown.

A phalanx of replacements on both sides took the edge out of Saints' advantage -- off went their half backs after close attention from Leota and Paul Volley. Yet another Northampton scrum was taken against the head but Rob Howley's rushed drop goal was easily charged down. Northampton countered with a penalty kicked to the the corner with ten minutes remaining. The lineout move was stalled by Wasps and a perfect Leota spiral kick looked to have cleared the danger to Saints' 22 but play was called back for a knock on.

This only heralded the end of the game for Saints. Wasps took control and did not allow their opponents another look-in. Pressure eventually told after Rob Howley had just failed to make a clean break. Wasps set-up a 40 metre drop goal for King right on full-time. Northampton were never quite at the races but had the satisfaction to travel home with a losing bonus point to accompany their severely bruised players.

Wasps: M Van Gisbergen; J Rudd (J Lewsey, 61), F Waters, S Abbott, K Logan; A King, R Howley; C Dowd, T Leota, W Green, S Shaw, R Birkett, J Worsley, L Dallaglio (capt; P Scrivener, 74), P Volley.

Northampton: N Beal; B Reihana (M Tucker, 76), P Jorgensen, J Leslie (capt), B Cohen; P Grayson (J Brooks, 66), M Dawson (I Vass, 61); T Smith (C Budgen, 64-77), S Thompson (D (Richmond, 59), M Stewart, S Williams (C Budgen, 49-59 & R Hunter, 72), M Lord, G Seely, M Connors, B Pountney.

Referee: R Maybank (Orpington).