Quins were not helped by some idiosyncratic decisions by an alleged elite referee, Wayne Barnes, who appeared to overlook blatant offside, forward passes and persistent offences by Wasps at ruck and maul. It was a wonder that a certain Harlequin coach did not commit mayhem but merely exhibited a wide and interesting vocabulary.

It took about ninety seconds for the first score as despite Gavin Duffy’s excellent fielding of Walder’s high ball, Quins were ruled offside and Walder had an easy 3 points with a kick of some 40 metres with the fierce wind helping the flight. Wasps continued to attack with the high ball assisted by the wind as the principal weapon. Fine work on the floor by George Robson turned the ball over but once again there was a penalty awarded to Wasps. Fortunately there next attack foundered on a forward pass that could not be ignored by the referee.

Play had so far been entirely in the Quins’ half with strong Wasps pressure and good wind assisted kicking pinning them back. Eventually that pressure told against them and the inevitable try resulted as quick movement of the ball saw their left winger score in the corner. Walder’s kick went astray and Wasps led 0 – 8 after eleven minutes.

Then two opportunities went begging. First a fine break by Phil Burgess with others of the pack in support took play deep into the Wasps twenty-two but was stopped before the line. Another good break saw Seb Jewell in full flight towards the line when the ball slipped from his hands and the chance was lost. Then a high bal from Keogh was knocked on by Wasps on their twenty-two metre line and almost immediately Quins had a penalty from the scrum but McMullen’s kick for goal missed. All this in five minutes and once again Quins were pinned back into their own half.

Quins were defending with great intensity but were again frustrated by the referee awarding a penalty for a hand in the ruck. Wasps kicked for touch and gained an attacking lineout in the left corner. The lineout was resisted but Quins knocked-on and Wasps had a five metre scrum. Their powerful pack were causing problems for the Quins forwards and Ellis broke away from the base of the scrum to score another try for Wasps. Walder duly added the conversion points and the lead was 0 – 15.

With five minutes of the half remaining a yellow card offence saw Alex Rogers sent to the sin-bin and Walder added the three points to extend the lead still further and as the half drew to its close Walder took a further opportunity to increase the score, kicking another penalty successfully so that Wasps ended the half twenty-one unanswered points in the lead.

Both teams made changes at half-time. Wasps substituted Walder with Jeremy Staunton while Quins brought on Spanghero and Williams for Burgess and Jewell. Quins went immediately onto the attack building good pressure which took play deep into Wasps twenty-two. A good break by Tom Williams was just stopped short of the line, but further pressure became irresistible and Simon Miall went over for the try. The conversion from wide out was missed but Quins had opened their account.

It was a crass piece of lower school rugby comedy that conceded a third try to Wasps after 13 minutes of the second half. A high ball saw both Keogh and Williams in the twenty-two running for the catch and collide as they did so, allowing the ball to bounce loose towards the try-line and permit an astute Wasp to scurry after the ball and score. Staunton’s conversion attempt failed. The score was now 5 – 26.

Quins tried hard to increase their score. Williams almost won the race to touch down a kick through, but the ball was cleared. Then a typical break by So’oialo saw him almost to the line but able to offload in the tackle to George Robson who was in support and the lock was able to touch down for Quins second try. Danny Care, on as a blood replacement for Tosh Masson, took over the kicking duties and added the points.

Wasps tried very hard to score the bonus point try and were within a few metres of so doing, but for stern tackling and good defence as well as unforced errors. There was no further scoring and Wasps had won by 12 points to 26 and took over at the top of the Southern Conference of the Guinness A League.

Speaking after the game, Academy Coach Collin Osborne described his team’s performance as heroic. He added that many had played most of two hard matches in three days and all had put their bodies on the line. He was very proud of them.

HARLEQUINS A: 15. Gavin Duffy (c) 14. Adam Thompstone 13. Tosh Masson
12. Seb Jewell (Tom Williams) 11. Simon Keogh 10. Craig Mc Mullen 9. Steve So’oialo (Danny Care) 1. Alex Rogers (Aston Croall) 2. James Hayter 3. Ricky Nebbett (Peter Cooke) 4. George Robson 5. Simon Miall (Mark Lambert) 6. Hano Vermaak 7, Luke Sherriff 8 Philip Burgess (Nicolas Spanghero)

Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)

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