Quins went on the attack immediately and the immediate pressure brought an immediate penalty that Malone kicked to touch for an attacking lineout.  Wasps defended strongly and eventually turned over possession and cleared the danger.  Quins went back on the attack again pressing Wasps back towards their own twenty-two and an excellent grubber kick through from Malone saw De Wet Barry able to run on to it and score the try.  Malone’s conversion attempt went wide. 

Wasps were clearly determined to overturn their defeat of the previous week and with hard driving round the fringes they made good distance.  A succession of penalties for offside pushed Quins back to defend an attacking lineout five metres from the try line.

Fortunately the throw was not straight and the subsequent scrum allowed Gomarsall to clear the danger.  Wasps immediately resumed their attack and another penalty allowed them another attacking lineout and only good defence held the ball up over the line.  There followed a series of rucks until the ball came to the right wing where Bishay went over for the try.  Staunton added the points from wide out and Wasps took the lead 7 – 5 and Quins never looked like regaining it during the remainder of the match.

Almost from the restart Quins were awarded a penalty 35 metres in front of the posts and Malone decided to kick for goal.  The penalty was totally wasted with the kick barely reaching shoulder height on its track to the posts!  

Wasps swept back into Quins half of the field and a penalty for offside on the twenty-two gave Staunton an opportunity to extend the lead but his kick drifted wide. But Wasps were not to be denied.  A good break from Doherty followed by a penalty produced a good attacking lineout and from the ruck that followed Holford broke away and galloped the few metres to the line.  Staunton missed the conversion. 

Quins tried hard. De Wet Barry made a fine break and his pass gave a splendid run on the left to Sam Smith and ought to have brought a try but the winger’s inside swerve took him nearer to the defender than was sensible and the tackle dislodged the ball a couple of metres short.  Lowe, who had replace Jewell, was put through the first line of the defence by Amesbury, but he too lost the ball short of the line 

As the half drew to a close, Quins were exerting great pressure on the Wasps line but without being able to cross for the score. A penalty allowed Malone, with the last kick of the half to narrow the gap to 12 – 8.

The second half began with a series of penalties over the first ten minutes with both sides opting to kick for touch and establish field position.   Unforced errors on both sides usually negated any benefit and finally at the end of the sequence Staunton tried for goal and missed again. Another good break and pass by Barry put Smith away again but for a second time the winger lost the ball forward in the tackle and another chance to score had gone.  Wasps pressure increased and Quins were pinned back.  Inevitably they went offside in defence and this time Staunton had the simplest of twenty metre kicks to increase the lead to 15 – 8 which was the final score.  There was, however, a final quarter of the match to play.  Quins threw all they had into attack and at the Wasps defenders but to no avail.

There was, I believe, a time when rugby was played in a spirit of sportsmanship rather than gamesmanship.  The reported spectacle of Shaun Edwards shouting at his front row to go down injured so that the replacement would mean uncontested scrums at a time and situation when Quins had an attacking scrum for the last moves of the game remains an unedifying one.  At best it is gamesmanship and at the worst can only be bringing the game into disrepute if not actually cheating.  In the event it prevented any possibility of a score that might have brought a draw.

So where does this result leave the league?  It seems likely to depend on what Premier Rugby do about the fixtures that Wasps cannot play.  After last night’s matches Quins have 35 points from 11 matches; Saracens lost to Gloucester United and have 34 points from 11 matches while Wasps have 34 points from 8 matches.  Quins expect a 5-point bonus for Gloucester’s failure to play their fixture and Wasps have still to play Gloucester next Monday when even a bonus point win would not overtake Quins. There are two unplayed Wasps fixtures and if Premier Rugby takes the view that they were lost due to Wasps’ fault, Quins could still find themselves in the final against Northampton.  It would be nice to know soon!

Teams

Wasps A:  15. Mark Van Gisbergen ,14. Chris Bishay , 13. David Doherty , 12. Rob Hoadley, 11. Tom Voyce , 10. Jeremy Staunton, 9. Joe Simpson , 1. Michael Holford
2. Joe Ward, 3. Nick Adams, 4. Richard Birkett ,  5. Chris Rowe, 6. Dan Leo, 7.Randall Williams , 8. Matt Corker
Replacements:   16.Tom Lindsay, 17.Charlie Beech , 18.Nick Porter , 19.James Buckland , 20.James Honeyben, 21.Henry Barrett , 22.Mark Odejobi.

Harlequins A: 15. Charlie Amesbury, 14. Seb Stegmann, 13. De Wet Barry, 12. Seb Jewell, 11. Sam Smith, 10. Chris Malone, 9. Andy Gomarsall, 1. Aston Croall, 2. Chris Brooker, 3. John Brooks, 4. James Percival, 5. Jim Evans, 6.Chris Hala'ufia, 7. Paul Volley, 8. Phil Davies
Replacements: 16. Micky Pointing, 17. Dan Frazier, 18. Ricky Nebbett, 19. Chris York, 20. Tom Sargeant, 21. Ryan Manyika, 22. George Lowe

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• April 2008 at Harlequins

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