Frazzled Wasps take time out to recharge
IF EVER a game illustrated the contrasting mental states of two sides this was it – Bristol all bustle and resilience, Wasps a depleting force in need of a holiday.
Lee Blackett, the Wasps head coach, immediately declared a three-day break for his players after admitting they were weathering a hangover from last season’s Premiership final. The Six Nations window has been especially troubling for Wasps, with six losses in seven.
“This is going to test us all,” said Blackett. “It’s going to test me, it’s going to test all the coaching team and all the players. We either become a victim and look for excuses or we get our heads down and work hard and get through it.
“The players will have three days off. I think we need it. We need that mental break to get ourselves right.”
Mental rejuvenation could also come via the return of backs Dan Robson and Paolo Odogwu from England camp, with Blackett confident they will “make a difference and freshen things up”.
But perhaps Blackett is being a bit tough on himself. While Wasps were increasingly ill-disciplined as the game wore on and did make mistakes in the wet conditions, they were up against a Bristol side that had both confidence and the dazzling skills of Charles Piutau.
Piutau wore 15 but could have had any number on his shirt from 10 upwards such was his ubiquity. He was at times unplayable: passes that made a mockery of the conditions; steps and power that made a mockery of the defence.
Alongside him was Piers O’Conor, whose reliability and smart support play is increasingly becoming the perfect foil for Piutau. O’Conor is the only player in the Premiership to have played every second of the 2020-21 camtory paign so far, and when he popped up on Piutau’s shoulder to score the Bears’ opening try it was no surprise.
This was Bristol’s first league victory against Wasps in almost 15 years, a barren run stretching back to Bristol’s win at the Memorial Stadium in 2006.
But they have a new stadium and a new name now, and as they continue to build momentum at the summit of the Premiership they are looking increasingly like they have a new impressive chapter of their histo write too.
Unbeaten in their last five matches and temporarily 11 points clear at the top of the table, this was a win underpinned by more excellent work by tempo-setting scrum-half Andy Uren. Elsewhere on the pitch, veteran lock Dave Attwood should be attracting a look from Eddie Jones.
Wasps took an early lead when Sione Vailanu built on Jimmy Gopperth’s early penalty to score a soft try down the fringe of a ruck. Briefly, Bristol were rattled.
The other things rattling were the posts – Tiff Eden struck the uprights three times – but Eden’s boot and O’Conor’s try gave Bristol a 16-13 half-time lead.
Tries by Joe Joyce and Niyi Adeolokun enabled Bristol to pull away, with Adeolokun polishing off a move that featured an inch-perfect long-range pass by Piutau.
Wasps scored a late consolation through Josh Bassett, but the last lines belonged to Bristol with Chris Vui securing a bonus point in injury time.