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Comfortable win for Wasps in first run out


By wasps.co.uk
August 22 2016

They ran in five tries in a dominant first half, but could only add three more in a second half punctuated by rolling changes, designed to give players enough game time without over-playing, which understandably affected fluency. After registering their sixth try in the opening minute of the half, they had to wait until the 70th minute before adding to their score.

Wasps created the first opportunity after a lengthy opening passage of play. They turned over Yorkshire possession just inside the visitors’ half and Dan Robson broke to the right. He tried to find support outside him, but the support runners weren't quite on the same wave length and the pass sailed harmlessly into touch 35 metres out.

Wasps took the lead after five minutes, when Josh Bassett went over to finish a flowing move which had stretched the defence on both flanks, with both Sam Jones and Guy Thompson making powerful bursts down the middle. The telling moment came when Rob Miller came into the line to take Jimmy Gopperth’s pass and send Josh Bassett clear on the right. Gopperth added the extra points.

A devastating  Wasps scrum then stole Yorkshire possession and Nathan Hughes powered through a tackle to cross halfway. He had James Gaskell in support, but the Wasps skipper was just unable to hold on to the pass as he burst through.

With 15 minutes gone, Hughes was holding his head in frustration after dropping his own quick penalty following another powerful scrum fifteen metres inside the Wasps half. Five minutes later, he redeemed himself when he stretched out to touch down near the posts, finishing a move which had featured a neat scissors move between Jimmy Gopperth and Brendan Macken. Gopperth landed the conversion and was again on target a minute later to add the extra points after Dan Robson had pounced on a loose ball just outside the 22 to hack through and score near the posts.

The visitors opened their account with a close-range penalty from Joe Ford 12 minutes before halftime. Three minutes later, Wasps made their first change of the afternoon when Tommy Taylor replaced Ashley Johnson to make his debut for his new club.

Wasps thought they had added a fourth try from another powerful scrum six minutes before the break when Nathan Hughes and Dan Robson combined to send Brendan Macken over near the posts. The try was ruled out as the referee had blown his whistle for a Yorkshire knock-on. From the ensuing scrum, Hughes and Robson attacked on the blindside before play came back infield and the Wasps number 8 powered his way over for his second try of the afternoon. Jimmy Gopperth added the conversion to take the lead to 28-3.

In the final play of the half, Dan Robson crossed for his second try of the afternoon to finish a move he had begun just inside his own half with excellent touches from Brendan Macken and James Gaskell opening up the defence to send the scrum half clear. Gopperth’s conversion made the halftime score 35-3.

A number of halftime changes saw Marty Moore replace Phil Swainston to make his Wasps debut, while Danny Cipriani took over from Jimmy Gopperth. Within a minute of the restart, Wasps had added their sixth try when Guy Thompson applied the finishing touch after an unstoppable drive by the forwards. Cipriani missed the conversion.

The visitors responded three minutes later, when replacement hooker Ross Graham touched down after a driving line out near the left corner. Joe Ford missed the difficult conversion to leave the score at 40-8.

Cipriani then produced a moment of magic which almost created another Wasps try. After gathering a high kick just inside his own half, he flicked a delightful offload behind his back to Josh Bassett, who cut inside and stepped brilliantly before straightening his run to race through the middle of the defence. He was caught just short of the line.

After 50 minutes, further Wasps changes gave Owain James and Jack Willis their senior debuts. Ten minutes later, another raft of changes saw Tom Cruse and Marcus Garratt became the latest debutants. 

After a sterile period of play, the Wasps eight produced another powerful shove to steal Yorkshire ball and put themselves into a strong attacking position. It again came to nothing, as they conceded a breakdown penalty a few metres from the line.

Ten minutes from time, Wasps finally rediscovered their scoring touch following a lineout near the left corner. The initial drive was forced backwards, but a secondary drive ended with Will Rowlands going over for a try. Cipriani was unable to land the conversion.

With just over a minute left, Wasps produced their best attack of the afternoon with a thrilling move which began near their own line. They appeared to have created a chance for Tom Howe to go over out wide on the left, but the defence somehow managed to prevent what would have been the outstanding score of the game. As it was, Wasps had the final say, as Yorkshire went for a consolation try. With the clock at zero, the visitors appeared to have an overlap on the left, but Frank Halai managed to hang on to an interception to race in from 80 metres. Cipriani’s conversion was the final act of the day.

Wasps Line ups

  1. Simon McIntyre
  2. Ashley Johnson
  3. Phil Swainston
  4. Matt Symons
  5. James Gaskell
  6. Sam Jones
  7. Guy Thompson
  8. Nathan Hughes
  9. Dan Robson
  10. Jimmy Gopperth
  11. Josh Bassett
  12. Brendan Macken
  13. Nick De Luca
  14. Christian Wade
  15. Rob Miller
  16. Tommy Taylor
  17. Tom Bristow
  18. Martin Moore
  19. Will Rowlands
  20. Marcus Garratt
  21. Craig Hampson
  22. Danny Cipriani
  23. Tom Howe
  24. Tom Cruse
  25. Jack Willis
  26. Alex Lundberg
  27. Alex Rieder
  28. Frank Halai
  29. Owain James

Yorkshire Carnegie Line ups

  1. Lee Imiolek
  2. Mike Mayhew
  3. Mike Cusack
  4. Dean Schofield
  5. Matt Smith
  6. Richard Beck
  7. Chris Walker
  8. Oli Stedman
  9. Alex Davies
  10. Joe Ford
  11. Seb Stegmann
  12. Peter Lucock
  13. Andy Forsyth
  14. Jonah Holmes
  15. Steve McColl
  16. Ross Graham
  17. Charlie Beech
  18. Rob O'Donnell
  19. Dan Sanderson
  20. Andy Saull
  21. Richard Mayhew
  22. Ryan Burrows
  23. Max Green
  24. Warren Seals
  25. Oli Goss
  26. Christian Georgiou
  27. Max Wright

 

 

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