Od man out mocks Ed
JONES IGNORED WASPS ACE 25
Wasps
Clermont Auvergne 27 PAOLO ODOGWU went from frustration to heartbreak – despite turning on the style for watching Eddie Jones.
The man England would not play started his first game for 12 weeks and wasted no time showing what they had missed in the Six Nations.
He scored with Wasps’ first attack and looked to have bagged another try before half-time as Clermont found his power game too hot to handle.
But the second was one of THREE Wasps tries chalked off by the
TMO.
And it proved costly as the two-time winners lost a sixth straight game at home – beaten to a Champions Cup quarter-final spot on the final play. Wasps captain Joe Launchbury admitted: “We have had a lot of held-up tries over the last few weeks.
“A lot of decisions go against us, but this one really hurts.
“Some of our best memories as a team have been playing in this competition. We are gutted not to progress.”
Toiling
Odogwu, who spent the entire Six Nations toiling in the England camp without getting near to winning a cap, was entitled to feel particularly sore. His first try was a gem, rampaging over from distance after team-mate Michael Le Bourgeois had made the bust on first phase.
But his smile turned to a frown, first as ref Frank Murphy ruled he had not prevented Peni Ravai from getting the ball down for a try when it looked for all the world that way on replays.
Then the officials adjudged that his brilliance in skinning two French defenders along the touchline should count for nothing as his boot had skimmed the whitewash.
Worse still, Odogwu was subbed off with nine minutes left and Wasps ahead by five points, only for his replacement Zach Kibirige to be carded for the penalty from which Kotaro Matsushima snatched the winning try.
“Paolo went well and there’s more in the tank,” said Wasps boss Lee Blackett.
“The more game time he gets the more he’ll return to his form before he went to England.
“It looked like we were back to our best, didn’t it? That only makes the defeat all the more gutting. Three disallowed tries, that’s 21 points we left out there.”
Clermont are high-class though and excelled with Sebastien Bezy rounding off a dazzling 80-metre counter.
Dropped
But Wasps looked the likelier to earn a last-eight shot against Toulouse, with Josh Bassett and Ben Harris adding tries.
One more score would have done it, but Matteo Minozzi dropped the ball over the line and Tommy Taylor’s try was brought back for a forward pass.
Camille Lopez instead kicked Clermont back to within reach and, with the clock in the red, Matsushima popped up to complete a smash-and-grab raid.
WASPS: Tries: Odogwu, Bassett, Harris. Cons: Umaga 2. Pens: Umaga 2. CLERMONT: Tries: Bezy, Ravai, Matsushima. Cons: Nani-williams, Lopez 2, Pen: Lopez 2.