Tigers too strong for scratch Wasps A side
DESPITE a bold second-half fightback, Wasps eventually lost an entertaining A League clash 31-20 to Leicester at Welford Road.
The hosts led 14-5 at the break, before two excellent driving lineout scores, finished by TJ Harris, brought the visitors within two points with ten minutes remaining.
However, Tigers then claimed the spoils with two further late scores, before a stoppage-time George Thornton try ensured both sides finished with bonus points.
This meant a tight contest was ultimately decided from the kicking tee thanks to home fly-half Tom Hardwick’s perfect five-from-five return.
Wasps academy manager Jon Pendlebury was happy with what he saw from his scratch team, which included nine guest players.
“There were plenty of encouraging signs,” he said, “although we picked up plenty of injuries and finished with lots of people out of position.
“It was good to give game-time to players from our partner clubs, and the final third, and handling errors proliferated prior to Biggs’ first kick giving Wanderers a half-time lead.
Lions edged both possession and territory but the scoreboard did not reflect that, and a high tackle enabled the home kicker to double his although we were disappointed to lose, we were pleased with the effort the boys put in.
“We created plenty of chances and, with the Anglo-Welsh Cup coming up, the guys are match fit and ready if Dai needs them.”
Wasps withstood a ferocious early onslaught from Tigers with some determined defence, which eventually forced a penalty.
Full back Owain James’ break then fashioned a half-chance down the right-wing for the visitors, only for a good tackle to halt winger Alex Goble at the corner flag.
However, the home side did soon take the lead through scrum-half Ben White, who got on flanker Will Evans’ shoulder to scramble over.
Hardwick converted, but the visitors struck back almost immediately when their best sustained attack of the half ended with Jacob Umaga’s dummy run creating the space for his centre partner Will Millett to score.
Will Foster’s chip-and-chase then went close for Tigers, while Wasps’ left winger Guy Armitage twice caught the eye with powerful bursts. But the home side went into the interval with a nine-point advantage thanks to Hardwick’s conversion of a try from replacement No.9 Harry Simmons, after a searing break by full back Jordan Olowofela. After a raft of half-time substitutions, Wasps missed an early opportunity to reduce their arrears when Connor Eastgate’s 50-metre penalty slid wide. However, his opposite number, Hardwick, made no mistake from 20 metres closer to the posts when Wasps’ frontrow was penalised. Umaga’s neat grubber narrowly evaded James in the left corner before Tigers’ impressive full back Olowofela went close to extending their lead with a diagonal burst to the corner. As the game entered the final quarter with a comfortable home win looking likely, two quick Wasps tries turned it on its head. Both came from driving lineouts after Eastgate planted penalties to the corner, and were finished by recently arrived replacement hooker Harris.
Eastgate’s third unsuccessful conversion left Leicester defending a two-point lead as the game entered the closing ten minutes.
However, a close-range pick-anddrive score from replacement lock Sam Bailey, again upgraded by Hardwick, eased home nerves.
And a repeat performance, this time finished off by another recentlyarrived forward, Ben Pointon, and superbly converted by Hardwick further extended the Tigers’ advantage.
However, Wasps had the last word, claiming an enterprising bonus-point try through prop Thornton who was on the end of a long pass after James and Umaga combined to take Wasps to the shadow of the home posts. RUGBY’S governing bodies have rejected calls from academics to remove tackling and the scrum from the schools level of the game, with World Rugby describing the advice as “extreme and alarmist”.
Allyson Pollock and Graham Kirkwood from the Institute of Health at Newcastle University argue that most injuries in youth rugby occur due to the collision element of the game.
Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), they said that ministers should “put the interests of the child before those of corporate professional rugby unions”.
World Rugby, who oversee the global game, reacted by issuing a strongly-worded statement disputing Pollock’s position.
“The continual claims made by Pollock are not based on like-for-like injury statistics and her extreme and alarmist conclusions are simply not supported by the data,” the statement read.
“For example, it is well documented that, for most sports, injury rates increase with age and yet the research quoted mixes 9-12 with 18-20 age groups.
“Contrary to Pollock’s opinion, the systematic published studies where injury has been properly defined and monitored suggest the risk for pre-teens is not unacceptably high compared to other popular sports.”
Pollock and her colleagues believe that removing collisions from schools rugby is likely to “reduce and mitigate the risk of injury” in pupils.
They argue that a history of concussion is associated with the “lowering of a person’s life chances” across a number of measures, including low educational achievement and premature death.
Supporting World Rugby is the Rugby Football Union. Its chairman Andy Cosslett insists the risks are outweighed by the benefits to be gained from the sport while also disputing Pollock’s data on safety.
“Mini and junior sections at clubs are packed to the gunnels on a Sunday morning now because they are making a decision that even though there is a bit of risk involved in this game – perhaps a little bit more than other games – the benefits for the child and the benefits and values the game stands for are worth buying into,” Cosslett said.
We created plenty of chances and, with the Anglo-Welsh Cup coming up, the guys are match fit and ready if Dai needs them.