Young worried by shaky Wasps
With implications for both the top and bottom of the Premiership table, this fixture promised twists and turns. It had on the surface seemed relatively uncomplicated up until the final two minutes with Wasps leading 30-3 with their try bonus sealed despite losing two players to the sin bin in the second half but Worcester struck twice in just over a minute.
Due to Leicester Tigers’ home defeat by Northampton Saints in the East Midlands derby, Wasps have climbed from fifth back into third and the play-off places. The issue of the hosts conceding two tries so late in the game and disciplinary issues could possibly cause alarm at the sharp end of the season.
Wasps director of rugby Dai Young was pleased to have secured the bonuspoint win but was frustrated and concerned over his side’s performance in the final 10 minutes, particularly after one-point defeats by Sale Sharks and Leicester in the previous two rounds.
He said: “We’ve lost the last couple of games in the last 10 minutes, so that last 10 minutes is starting to become an area of concern for us.
“We’ve talked about it as it is probably our poorest period in the game. I don’t think it is a fitness issue, I think it is more of a concentration issue. It is something we need to address because we’ve lost two games in the last 10 minutes. What we are talking about is not being in a position when you are on top where one score is going to lose you the game, that is something we have got to put right.”
Wasps started brightly with man of the match Christian Wade scoring the first of a brace of tries after 11 minutes. Then after a period in attack, came the shock and awe of two tries within three minutes as captain Joe Launchbury scored followed by a sumptuous sprint up the flank by Wade.
Leading 23-3 at half-time, the complications began to arise for last year’s Premiership finalists with blindside Jack Willis sin-binned for a dangerous tackle. However, it was in the push for the bonus-point try that saw a more controversial yellow handed out by referee Ian Tempest when it was judged centre Jimmy Gopperth had tipped over replacement second row Andrew Kitchener. As a result Guy Thompson’s try that would have clinched the bonus point was disallowed. Just moments later Wasps atoned when Josh Bassett showed his poacher’s eye to snatch an intercept and cross.
Young was mystified by the yellow card, although refusing explicitly to criticise Tempest, but hinted at calls not going with his side in recent games.
“It is pretty difficult for us to say anything. If we really say what we think, we will probably get fined but that was a real harsh call,” he said. “We have picked up a couple of yellow cards over the last few games, which is disappointing. I don’t think we have much to complain about with Jack [Willis]. But the second one I thought was pretty harsh, we all say ‘You win some, you lose some’ but we are not winning too many decisions at the moment.”