Robson’s late try enough for wasteful Wasps
Dai Young, the Wasps director of rugby, fired a warning to his players last night despite seeing his 14-man side all but confirm their place in the knockout stages of the Champions Cup following Dan Robson’s last-gasp try to seal victory against Toulouse.
Wasps had to rely on the quick-witted reactions of Robson, with Danny Cipriani in the sin-bin, when the scrumhalf tapped a penalty with 30 seconds left and dived over underneath the tackle of Scotland lock Richie Gray.
Young’s side had been on the brink of another defeat after Irish referee John Lacey had controversially awarded a penalty try as Cipriani was shown a yellow card, penalised for joining a maul illegally before ripping the ball out of the hands of Toulouse replacement prop Vasil Kakovin as he attempted to ground it over the line.
It was the third time in four Champions Cup matches this season that Wasps have seen the result hinge on the final minute of play, following the draw at Toulouse and the defeat by Connacht in Galway. Robson, who replaced Joe Simpson just after half-time, ensured that Wasps are now odds-on favourites to finish top of Pool 2 if they can claim a bonus-point victory against Zebre next Sunday.
Connacht, who top the pool by one point following their bonus-point win over Zebre in Galway, must now beat Toulouse with a bonus point to be certain of qualifying as pool winners.
Young praised the character of his side for rallying once again after a scintillating try by Elliot Daly on the hour mark looked to have sealed the victory, but the Welshman found the win a bittersweet experience.
Young was critical of his side’s inability to finish several try-scoring opportunities, particularly in the first half, and insisted that such profligacy from his players would eventually catch his side out. “I’m really pleased that we found a way to win. We showed a lot of team spirit and scored points when we had a player in the sin-bin,” said Young.
“But, in saying that, we have to be honest with ourselves, in that if we produce as many clear line breaks as we did, you have got to nail them.
“You can’t not finish those line breaks in the big games and expect to win. The players were a little bit surprised by my reaction, because I wasn’t jumping up and down. I’m pleased that we won and you take that, but we need to look at our lack of composure and patience in their 22.
“We really have to be hard with ourselves. I think the players might be a bit surprised with my reaction, but we have to look at that lack of composure.
“If we progress then there is the op- portunity to do it in the big games. We have to be better.”
Young questioned the decision by Lacey to award the penalty try, and was clearly frustrated by the number of penalties that his side conceded, particularly going forward.
“Cipriani didn’t actually enter the maul, so I thought it was the wrong decision – probably one of many really,” said Young.
“I don’t want to criticise referees because it’s a difficult job and you have got to adapt to the game, but you could pretty much do what you like in the contact area.”
Wasps could have taken an iron grip of the contest within the first five minutes, but Young’s side could not convert two golden opportunities. The first came from a counter-attack deep withFrançois in the Wasps half, when Christian Wade, who has tormented so many opponents here with his touchline breaks, gathered a grubber by Jimmy Gop- perth and accelerated into the open space. Wade found Kurtley Beale but the Australian had to check himself and threw a loose pass to the ground. Joe Simpson ensured the attack continued, but Joshua Bassett’s pass went behind Daly and Toulouse were able to clear the danger.
Moments later, it was Simpson’s turn to lead the charge after disrupting a Toulouse attack, but the Wasps scrum-half ’s inside pass was judged to have been knocked forward by Bassett before the ball was claimed while still in the air by Thomas Young, who raced to the line.
The bright start to the game fizzled out and the rest of the first half was a largely forgettable affair. Toulouse edged possession but did not help themselves, with Jean-Marc Doussain missing two relatively simple kicks at goal. It took a wraparound tackle by Simpson to prevent Maxime Médard from scoring after a sumptuous dummy by the Toulouse full-back, before Wasps’ most fluid attack of the half, twice involving the promptings of Cipriani, culminated in a penalty by Gopperth, the only score of the half. A try by Yoann Huget after a strong carry by Thierry Dusautoir fired Toulouse’s hopes of maintaining their own qualifying hopes and, moments later, Wasps’ position deteriorated when Wade was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Cros. Wasps’ response oozed class, however, when Daly’s dancing feet enabled him to elude Dusautoir and race over from 45 metres. It should have been the decisive blow, but instead it was left to Robson to clinch victory.
“We had a big bench to come on, and we could run around their pack a little bit – and it proved well at the end,” said Robson.
“It is going to be a big tester in Italy next week, and we are going to have to prepare well and go there with the right game plan and hopefully we can do it out there.”