A re-jigged Falcons back-line saw Mathew Tait move to full-back as Toby Flood joined Jamie Noon at the centre and Tom May moved to the wing, Wilkinson coming into the fly-half position, and two All Black props were named on the Newcastle bench (how many other English clubs have ever done that?)

The first five minutes saw the Falcons have some good possession, although we were stuck on halfway with Wilkinson missing an early penalty and us electing to scrum on the Wasps 22 when given a penalty for some reason.  It came to nothing, and as the hosts came upfield Danny Cipriani kicked two penalties.

As the hail smashed down onto the roof of the Hypnos terrace, Cipriani also missed a penalty in between, although I could’ve sworn that the flags went up and it should have been 9-0.  But no complaints!  The Falcons went back onto the attack by stealing a ball in their own half and kicking forward, but Wasps returned the boot and Eoin Reddan nipped in for the opening try.

Wasps’ scrum was doing a good job on ours coming up to the break, and with Jon Golding sin-binned on our line, the seven-man pack was apparently unable to refrain from offending and a penalty try was given quickly by referee Malcolm Changleng, and the conversion gave Wasps an 18-0 half-time lead.

The second half was less than inspiring, although Carl Hayman’s introduction gave the travelling fans something to cheer, and we did.  Two early Jonny Wilkinson penalties gave us hope that perhaps the game wasn’t over, but overall Wasps were still in control of the game.

Tait screwed up a catch to concede a lineout on our 22, but the Falcons stole the ball at the back and drove forward, and held a lot of possession for the final period of the match.  This involved phase after phase on the Wasps 22 line, neither moving forwards not backwards any significant distances.  The introductions of Lee Dickson and Sean Tomes did nothing, and Tim Visser had an absolute ’mare, dropping most of the passes he received.

With just a few minutes left, Wasps broke upfield and Wilkinson, uncharacteristically, pulled down a home runner.  The crowd bayed for blood as the play was brought back but our 10 was let off with a warning, Cipriani’s final three points being more punishing, or they would have been if the game had been closer.

A 24-6 win saw Wasps through to the semi-finals in Cardiff, and our first (probably second, including the league) chance of silverware for the season is gone.  I am not sure whether the loss of a potential route into the Heineken Cup is more, less or just as important.

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