Wasps grab late bonus as Irish capitulate

Hot shot
By Sparkie
February 13 2003

Wasps' high-pressure game saw off a spirited but lacklustre London Irish display by four tries to one. Wasps scored two tries in each half to assert their territorial advantage but Warren Gatland was far from happy with the standard of play despite the vital bonus point.

Conditions were greasy after the morning drizzle but blue sky and Irish's massed bodhrans greeted Wasps and the Exiles to the field. The opening gambits were tense and error strewn, none more so than when Barry Everitt pulled his first penalty attempt from around 40 metres out.

Wasps woke up with a start. Mark Van Gisbergen marked a poor Irish midfield chip but his clearance went only as far as the erstwhile champion Wasp, Chris Sheasby on halfway. The burly no.8 was enveloped and driven back giving Wasps the put-in at the scrum. A clever wheel allowed Lawrence Dallaglio to elude Hentie Martens and feed Josh Lewsey on the blindside. The England A back outflanked Michael Horak, another England hopeful, to score in the 11th minute with Alex King adding the conversion.

Wasps usual hit-and-miss lineout drill gave Everitt a 42 metre penalty chance and this time he made no mistake. The game continued to concertina haltingly between the 22s so Wasps' fullback, Van Gisbergen, opted to chip and chase after 24 minutes. Although Kenny Logan flailed and failed lay a hand on Mark Mapletoft (plus ça change), Gismo managed to haul his opposite number down and Toftie was penalised for hanging on to the ball.

King punted the ball into Irish's 22 and Simon Shaw secured good lineout ball which was driven infield to the goalposts. Fortune smiled on Irish as although Trevor Leota peeled off and touched the ball against the left upright's padding, New Zealand referee, Paul Honiss, deemed that the ball had not been grounded. Martyn Wood showed the presence of mind to try and rescue the move but he knocked on the ball in goal.

Wasps went back to looking for gaps on the outside but some scrappy handling in midfield allowed Irish's lock, Bob Casey, to hack on. Although Stuart Abbott had the threat covered he threw a hasty air pass. Irish decended on the loose ball en masse and swift hands put Horak through to our five metre line before he was hauled down. Wasps entered the ruck from the side and were rightly penalised. As Dallaglio prevaricated with the referee Irish capitalised and switched play to the right. Second phase ball was recycled quickly. Prop, Mike Worsley, made up the extra pair of hands to allow Paul Sackey to score with ease in the corner as Fraser Waters desperately tried to cover tackle.

Irish's lead lasted all of four minutes. They looked to match Wasps' expansive aims but their handling seemed hesitant, perhaps confidence was low following their pummeling at home to Sale last weekend. Logan missed a speculative 51 metre penalty goal but Everitt then conspired to drop out on the full. Wasps scrummed back on Irish's 22 and won a penalty which King goaled to put us back in front, 10-8.

Wasps probed down the left wing for a change but Paul Sackey closed Irish's defensive net on the move. As the game looked to be drifting towards an inconclusive half-time score, Irish relaxed on Wasps 22. Wasps again used our scrummage to good effect, surprising Irish's backline with a four-on-two blindside move. Gismo, up from fullback to create confusion, supported Lewsey as he escaped down the right wing once more. Lewsey drew the last line of defence and popped the ball back inside to the Dutch New Zealander who cantered to the line. King added the extras to rub in the half-time swing to Wasps.

Brendan Venter showed that he was determined not to let Irish fade and attacked five minutes after the restart. His chip ahead was retained on our 22 and Irish won a penalty which Everitt again managed to miss. Four minutes later Irish pressed with a lineout following a penalty and won first a free kick and then a full penalty as Venter's crash-ball was spoiled by Craig Dowd. Everitt made amends as Dowd silently thanked the ref for not binning him.

Irish were back in the match at 17-11 but not for long. Wasps won the restart and immediately attacked on the right flank. Sackey tried to intercept and his knock on was penalised. King stretched Wasps' lead once more but Irish weren't giving up lightly. Managing to secure third phase ball, Irish attacked but slow passing allowed Lewsey to clear the threat. Irish countered again and won a 40m penalty which was missed once more.

For a third time Wasps made a telling break from one of our scrummages, this one just in our own half. Dallaglio flea-flicked the ball to Wood and Lewsey, coming in off his wing, burned a hole through Irish's backline and scorched to the right corner. Horak just managed to pull him into touch despite being handed-off. Irish cleared the danger and won another penalty 40 metres out. This time Tofty missed narrowly.

It was to be Irish's last throw of the dice. A Wasps clearance was fielded into touch by Sackey and Tofty petulantly kicked the ball away. Whereas Honiss had missed Leota's identical piece of time wasting in the first half, this time a penalty was awarded and King was on target again.

With a 12-point cushion, our tight five upped the ante and turned over an Irish scrummage. A penalty for a hand in our scrum was kicked for the corner. Richard Birkett was taken out in the lineout and the penalty routine was repeated. This time the rolling maul was held up in goal, although Dowd emerged from the bottom of the heap with the ball.

Irish managed to spoil our scrum 5 and cleared the ball upfield but Gismo ran it back. Second phase ball was spun out to Will Green who did an impression of a flying winger. The next phase was switched infield to Dallaglio and Paul Volley broke Irish's line before popping to Waters who eluded Sackey from 30 metres out to score by the posts.

In bygone days Wasps would have struggled to score a fourth and bonus-point-winning try during the final 13 minutes. Perhaps sensing that Gats would not be overly pleased with the fare on offer thus far into the match, Wasps did something quite out of character. We won the restart and popped the ball to Lewsey who had come off his wing again. His angle of attack took him between Irish's advancing defence and straight to the 22.

Wasps won a penalty at the breakdown, inevitably kicked to the 5 metre line. A subsequent penalty was quickly tapped but scrappy ball led to a Wasps scrum 5. John Rudd came off his wing to add to the advance and he combined with Lewsey to set up a ruck close to the Exiles line. By this time Irish were all at sea and Dowd had no trouble in finishing from short range. Point made, game over -- 35-11 to Wasps with eight minutes to spare.

The cause for celebration was muted after learning of the deaths of Michael Hymas and Billy Edwards -- our thoughts go out to the respective families.