Cipriani’s the maestro as Wasps hit some high notes
WASPS roared above Gloucester into second place after a stunning second-half display.
Trailing 17-15 at the end of a rollercoaster first period, Dai Young’s side notched four tries and 34 second-half points to blow Gloucester away and reestablish their credentials as serious title contenders.
Injuries to star men Jimmy Gopperth, Elliot Daly and Nathan Hughes would have crippled most teams. Not Wasps, for whom stand-ins Kyle Eastmond, Juan De Jongh and Nizaam Carr performed admirably alongside outstanding No.10, Danny Cipriani.
Rugby director Young said: “There were a few lapses in the first-half, but the second-half was a much better all-round performance. The score-line perhaps flattered us but we scored some good tries.”
Christian Wade was twice bundled into touch as Wasps began brightly, and they struck on 12 minutes when, following Carr’s quick tap and a strong carry from Jack Willis, Willie Le Roux stood up Charlie Sharples and scored in the corner.
Gloucester’s riposte was instant, Billy Twelvetrees crashing up to the Wasps five-metre line before Willi Heinz sniped around Eastmond to dot down.
Wasps hit back with a super passage of play, repeatedly probing Gloucester’s rearguard before Ollie Thorley produced a fabulous tackle to hold up Wade.
Thorley was soon Gloucester’s hero again as he surged on to a Billy Burns’ pass before popping the ball out of Wade’s tackle for Mark Atkinson to score.
Cipriani’s penalty reduced the arrears, before the forgotten England man prompted another sparkling move by putting Eastmond into space. He found Le Roux, whose delicious reverse enabled Wade to finish a fine try.
However, Gloucester are made of sterner stuff these days and Burns, matching Cipriani pass for pass, hit Tom Marshall with a left to right bullet that enabled the full-back to wrong-foot Joe Simpson for a twopoint half-time lead.
Gloucester piled forward again in search of a fourth try, only for disaster to strike when a loose ball was snaffled by Eastmond, who sent Le Roux on his way. The South African made ground before finding Thomas Young, who showed remarkable pace to score from halfway.
Cipriani then bagged two quick penalties for a 28-17 lead as shell-shocked Gloucester struggled to regroup and the visitors survived another suckerpunch when Sharples fumbled under pressure from De Jongh, only for Carr to knock-on.
Wasps turned the screw and, with Cipriani in his pomp and Dan Robson lending express pace to an already high octane attack, Josh Bassett almost broke the line before Cipriani found Le Roux, whose cutout pass sent Guy Thompson over.
Gloucester bagged their own try-bonus when Freddie Clarke battled over. But Wasps produced a stunning crescendo with late tries from Robson and a 50metre effort from Wade.