London Wasps blow away troublesome Tykes

LINEOUT SECURE
By GD
September 19 2005

Not many of us made it to Leeds, so here's what I think happened... Although we've never lost at Headingley, we've never played well there and I've always come away thinking we "won ugly".

The games have been dour, with the scores close, meaning the matches have been high on gut-wrenching tension but low on quality. Today's game was following exactly the same pattern until someone either gave a Man of the Match winning team talk at half time or gave the players one hell of a kicking.

We started off quite brightly and span the ball left and right without ever looking that threatening. However, after the first five minutes, the game degenerated into the worst half of rugby we've put together all season. We couldn't win any quick ball, couldn't generate any momentum and consequently gave Alex no option but to kick away lots of possession. Leeds then kicked it back to us. Neither side showed any creativity and as a spectacle the game was very poor. Was I the only one becoming increasingly irritated by our tactics of kicking the ball long at restarts then watching it sail straight back over our heads to half way?

The scrummage was a mess and remained so for the whole game. Every scrum had to be reset at least once, often two or three times. I'm not an expert, but it looked to me like both sides were being negative (or clever) on the opposition put in. Wasps, particularly Bracken when he was on the field for Payne, didn't bind properly on the Leeds put in. On a Wasps scrummage Kerr went straight to his knees every time. One positive is that after the last two weeks' problems at the scrummage I think this week we probably emerged from the mess marginally on top.

As the first half wore on Wasps were guilty of conceding a few soft penalties and of conceding possession through simple errors when not under undue pressure. We had our noses in front and it felt a bit like the team were waiting for something to happen rather than concentrating on being accurate. We had only created two chances in the first half. Some brief flashes of continuity looked to have created opportunities to outflank the very flat Leeds defence. However, first Voyce then Abbott dropped long cut-out passes. Leeds had created one chance, when Marshall escaped JOC's tackle at a scrummage, but he was hauled down short of the line by good scrambling defence.

As half-time approached, with Wasps leading 12-9, the natural pessimist in me started mentally preparing for a 15-all draw or an 18-15 loss. 1 or 2 points away at Leeds is an OK result isn't it? Then, out of keeping with the rest of the game, one of the Leeds forwards made a great blind-side break from 22 metres out. Desperate defence stopped him scoring, but Leeds had numbers in the backs from the resulting ruck leading to a relatively simple run in for Balshaw. An excellent try. 16-12 to Leeds. The half time whistle sounded and I pessimistically began counting how many service stations I was going to pass on the way home. I suspected the need for chocolate to cheer myself up might be all consuming.

Presumably Shaun and Craig played Bad CopBad Cop at half time. We started the half with great purpose and at a quicker pace. We retained the ball for half a dozen phases, reached the Leeds 10m line, then gave away a penalty. Oh great.

Alex sparked our game into life. At last we didn't ship slow ball to the centres. Taking the ball in our own half, he put a great chip over the Leeds defence. Abbott and Waters hared after it. The ball sat up nicely for Abbott, he took the ball about the Leeds 10m line, drew the last defender and gave a perfectly timed pass to Voyce who scored under the posts. It looked effortless.

Shortly afterwards a great blindside move led to a kick being placed down the 5m tram lines. Sackey outsprinted the defence and claimed the ball a few metres from the try line with Leeds defenders hanging off him. His momentum couldn't carry him over so he laid the ball back. Unfortunately Hart knocked on as he tried to pick up the ball at pace and dive over the line. Promising stuff though.

With the score now at 19-16 Wasps were then awarded a penalty about 30m out. Excellent. Over to you MVG. Unfortunately Matt Dawson thought otherwise and took a quick tap penalty. Numbskull. Take the 3 points! The ball went left, then right, Dawson sniped again from the next ruck, then passed inside to Ibanez who showed great determination (and long arms) to score. Great decision Daws! He who dares wins. Never in doubt.

Oogie was now on the pitch and was fulfilling his role as "impact sub" perfectly. His power, height, and ability to hold the ball high when riding tackles was greatly troubling the Leeds defence every time he touched the ball. From one attack he almost broke through to score. The Leeds defence was in tatters. Voyce went in to play scrum half, looked down the blind-side, saw 14 Leeds players and 10 Wasps players, then thankfully turned round to pass the other way. Ibanez was the beneficiary and scored his second try on the left wing.

Things were becoming a blur now. We were playing with pace, the backs were looking dangerous, and I think I was suffering delirium from the low of half-time to the high of what was happening now.

Alex took a bang to the head and was replaced by Brooks who played a great cameo. Ross replaced de Marigny for Leeds and played a not so good cameo. Practically his first act was to chip the ball straight into Brooks' arms on the Wasps 22m line. Brooks dashed upfield. Bonus point try here we come boys. Miraculous. Well, not quite. Brooks was tackled a few metres from the try line. Oogie and Sackey both swooped in to pick up the ball and finish the job. Both missed it. Drat. We managed to get a 5m scrum out of it, but Joe had an attack of butterfingers. Ah well. Who cares? The fourth try came shortly afterwards. All I can remember is Hart stretching over the line and praying that the ref would give it.

Job done. Mass substitution time. The final minutes of the game were played at a frantic pace. Wasps had the game won and so chanced their arm from anywhere. Leeds just sought respectability so also chanced their arm from anywhere. The game became end to end stuff. We went from almost scoring, to Leeds breaking out and only being denied a length of the field try by some wonderfully committed last ditch tackling, notably by Sackey and Abbott. We finally conceded a second try from a rolling maul following a penalty and catch and drive.

Thankfully the game finished on a high note for Wasps. Our fifth try was a gem. A great run from Oogie, ball held high in the tackle, a beautiful offload to MVG, then a sublimely timed pass to Sackey who had a simple run in.

It all started so horribly and finished so well. Positives....

The second half! The result. Our ability to sort things out at half time.

MVG's nonchalant goal kicking. Will he ever miss? There are probably Wasps fans out there who have never heard the phrase "if only we had a goal kicker...." We used to hear it every week.

Our line-out. Not 100%, but probably 90%+. Both hookers played excellently.

Sackey getting his season up and running. Not only his try, but also his superb work rate today. He tackled hard, chased hard and both he and Voyce looked for work and frequently acted as first receiver.

JOC. An energetic performance both in defence and offering himself up as a ball carrier.

Stuart Abbott. How good will this bloke look when we're firing on all cylinders and giving him some decent ball?

Matt Dawson. Like the team, it took him a half to get going. He then ran the show.

Oogie. He looked a constant threat ball in hand. He also put in some huge tackles.

Man of the Match? MVG for me.