Howley bows out, then a record try and a Wasps win

9 Seconds
By Barney Burnham
November 6 2004

A night which began with high emotion and a record-breaking try ended with Wasps defending a narrow lead to clinch their eighth successive win, and climb to second in the Zurich Premiership.

The high emotion came in the shape of a fond farewell to Rob Howley. The Welsh wizard, who'd sadly announced his retirement from the game earlier in the week, was clearly moved by the ovation he received as he led the Wasps team on to the pitch, to the strains of Cwm Rhondda, performed by two opera singers.

After an on-pitch presentation to the departing hero, the game started in sensational fashion. A long kick-off by James Brooks - a late replacement for Alex King, who had a slight niggle in the foot - was dropped by Will Greenwood. Following up, Tom Voyce pounced on the ball to power his way over under the posts. The score came on just nine seconds - the fastest try ever recorded in the Zurich Premiership. The conversion, by Brooks, was a formality.

For the next few minutes, Wasps looked as though they were set for a runaway win. They turned down a kickable penalty, to set up a close-range lineout, after which they pounded the Quins line. A possible scoring chance went begging when Lawrence Dallaglio, charging into the line, could not gather Brooks' pass.

Quins then mounted their first attack of the game, and it almost brought them a score. The ball was moved out to the left, and winger Simon Keogh was set free. Only a last-ditch tackle by Josh Lewsey stopped the Irishman from going over in the corner.

After 10 minutes, Jermey Staunton opened Quins' account with a penalty. 2 minutes later, his long-range effort, from inside his own half, was well short.

We then saw an example of Matt Dawson at his sniping best, when he robbed opposite number Steve So'oialo at the base of a scrum on the Quins 22. The ball was moved left, but Brooks' grubber went dead.

On 19 minutes, Simon Shaw was sent to the sinbin, for an offence at the ruck - a harsh decision, in the eyes of home supporters. Staunton kicked the resultant penalty, to narrow the gap to one point.

A minute later, Dawson took a quick penalty near halfway, and a powerful burst took him deep into Quins territory. With Wasps threatening the line, near the left-hand corner, Quins were penalised for pulling down the ruck, but there was no yellow card, and Mark Van Gisbergen missed the penalty.

The visitors then took a surprise lead, when Tom Voyce sliced a clearance kick. In acres of room on the left-hand side, Keogh gathered a kind bounce, and made 30 yards, before being stopped on the line. He managed to offload to the supporting Greenwood, who went over for the try. Staunton's fine conversion, from wide out, made it 13-7 to Quins.

It was then the turn of the Quins skipper Andre Vos to see yellow, and Van Gisbergen was on target with a penalty to make it 13-10.

Wasps then seemed to have set up a tryscoring opportunity as Fraser Waters made a powerful break down the right. With Josh Lewsey outside him, screaming for the ball, the centre delayed his pass and was caught by the Quins defence.

Shortly before halftime a move featuring Dawson and Jonny O'Connor was stopped just short of the line, but Wasps were penalised for a double movement, and the opportunity went begging.

Mysteriously, the referee only played 30 seconds of added time at the break, despite a lengthy stoppage for Quins to make a blood replacement.

Wasps made one substitution at the start of the second half, with Mark Lock replacing Joe Worsley, who was suffering from a dead leg.

Four minutes into the second half, a Quins chip ahead spelled real danger for the Wasps defence, but a superb piece of play by Van Gisbergen saved the day. With ball bouncing awkwardly, the fullback plucked it from the air and beat the oncoming attackers to launch a run which took play back into the Quins half. He then levelled the score with a well-struck penalty, before Trevor Leota came on to replace Phil Greening, to his usual enthusiastic welcome.

The champions came close to a second try, after a superb cross-field run by Tom Voyce, but the movement ended with a knock-on just short of the line.

Quins suffered a second yellow card on the hour, when winger George Harder was sent to the bin. Van Gisbergen's penalty put Wasps back into the lead, but Staunton equalised six minutes later, with a neat drop goal.

Within two minutes, another Van Gisbergen penalty gave Wasps the 19-16 lead they never relinquished, despite a period of sustained Quins pressure, which saw a series of surges stopped on the line.

There was relief, rather than triumph, when the final whistle blew. Not for the first time, Quins had raised their game against their local rival. Their game plan had been limited, but effective, based on aggressive defence, which often saw Wasps lose ground through a series of phases. Quins did not look like a side without a win all season, but they lacked the cutting edge needed to pierce the Wasps defence.

Wasps coach Shaun Edwards said of the men from The Stoop: "If they're the worst team in the league, it must be a strong league!" Director of Rugby Warren Gatland felt his side should have used more of a kicking game, but expressed himself satisfied with the win.

From the Wasps point of view, it was a frustrating game, with too many handling errors and turnovers, but a win is a win - and it's better to win ugly than lose pretty.