London Wasps confirm Top 4 status with win over Gloucester
On the back of their success against Harlequins last week, the Men in Black knew a win would put them four points clear in fourth place from the likes of Gloucester and Northampton.
The outcome of the game took a long time to be decided and even when it looked like it was after tries from Christian Wade and Billy Vunipola, Gloucester nearly stole the goods with two tries in the dying minutes.
Despite the defeat, the Cherry and Whites go back to Kingsholm with both the losing and try bonus points as a reward of their 80 minutes commitment in a frantic game.
The first half was a fierce arm wrestle between these two candidates for a Top 4 finish with neither side able to unleash their devastating speed out wide.
Gloucester enjoyed most of the possession and territory but couldn’t break the Wasps defence, led once again by an outstanding Sam Jones, to take the game despite some strong linebreaks by Akapusi Qera.
Wasps had the upper hand in the set piece with youngster Phil Swainston having the better of Nick Wood while Marco Wentzel and James Cannon dominated the lineout to help Wasps clear their lines or set up their first half try.
Gloucester started the second half best with Mike Tindall going over but out of nowhere Wasps took the game by storm on the hour mark as Wade scored a sensational try from a turnover ball to hammer Gloucester’s hope.
The home side had to deal with a late scare but after another win at Adams Park they are truly in contention and in control of their destiny for a place in the semi-finals.
Flying Fijians Qera was instrumental in the lead up to the opening try of the game as he broke down field from a rolling maul before finding Dan Robson on his shoulder and see the former England U20 scrum-half dive over the line.
Rob Cook added the extras but Wasps replied soon after as Stephen Jones kicked a penalty to put Wasps on the board.
Despite the Cherry and Whites controlling the ball, it was the home side ho scored next when Springbok Ashley Johnson found his way over the line from a well-worked catch and drive.
Jones added the extras but five minutes later Cook leveled the score with a penalty.
It looked like the score was settled going into the break but on the last play of the half, Wasps had one last surge earning a penalty to see Jones put the Men in Black 13-10 in front at the interval.
Gloucester seemed to have found a new gear at the start of the second half as Tindall showed strength to put a fend on Chris Bell and go over for his first try in two years in the Premiership to put Gloucester back in the lead 17-13.
Jones made it a one-point before Wade’s sensational try just before the hour mark put Wasps 23-17 in front after Jones’ conversion.
As Gloucester struggled to control a scrum on half-way, Wasps No.8 Vunipola picked up the ball before offloading to Wade on the outside. The winger nearly dropped the pill but, once he gathered it, he put his foot down to get the better of Robson and Ryan Mills on the outside to score.
With the crowd pushing behind them, Wasps took the game by storm and when Vunipola picked up the ball at the back of a scrum five metres out, three defenders weren’t enough to stop him as he took the score to 30-17 with just over ten minutes to go.
Two minutes later, Nick Robinson thought he sealed the win with a penalty but two tries in two minutes from Mils and Charlie Sharples suggested it might be over after all but Matt Everard earned the winning penalty as the Cherry and Whites had one last go from deep in their own half.
For London Wasps
Tries: Johnson, Wade, Vunipola
Conversions: St. Jones 2, Robinson
Penalties: St. Jones 3, Robinson
For Gloucester
Tries: Robson, Tindall, Mils, Sharples
Conversions: Cook 2, Tindall
Penalties: Cook
London Wasps: Southwell (Capt.); Wade, Masi, Bell, Varndell; St. Jones, Simpson; Taulafo, Thomas, Swainston; Cannon, Wentzel; Johnson, Sa. Jones, Vunipola.
Replacements: Lindsay, Payne, Taylor, Rae, Everard, Davies, Robinson, Daly.
Gloucester: Cook; Sharples, Tindall (Capt.), Molenaar, May; Mills, Robson; Wood, Dawidiuk, Harden; Lokotui, James; Savage, Qera, Kalamafoni.
Replacements: Britton, Murphy, Thomas, Hamilton, Cox, Lewis, Monahan, Thomas.
Referee: Andrew Small
Star man: Sam Jones – London Wasps
NICK VERDIER
You can relive the action from Adams Park here.
