Wasps bring Saints’ run to end thanks to Gopperth’s boot
Att: 11,423
Chris Boyd had warned his side that their unbeaten start to the season could not continue without a significant step up in performance and so it proved as Wasps’ resurgence continued in style, thanks to the trusty boot of veteran Jimmy Gopperth.
The Northampton Saints director of rugby could not hide his frustration. While he insisted that Wasps hooker Gabriel Oghre should have been sent off in the second half for a high tackle on Alex Mitchell, the inadequacies of his own side were such that he felt that even if Wasps had been reduced to 14 men, it would not have altered the result. “I’m p----d off,” he said.
Wasps were leading 20-10 when Oghre went to the sin-bin and were able to protect their lead during the next 10 minutes, despite a try by Lewis Ludlam, with the 38-year-old Gopperth coming off the bench to make the decisive contribution to seal victory with two late penalties.
There was no doubt in the Wasps camp that the veteran fly-half would deliver as Lee Blackett’s side moved up to fifth place. “Jimmy’s Jimmy – he’s just someone you can trust,” said Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson, whose second-half try had put his side in control. “That’s one of the big things in this game, when you have someone like that coming off the bench in a big game. When you bring on someone like Jimmy Gopperth to close out a game you know you’re going to be in a good place.
“He’s one of the hardest workers at the club. He drives all the meetings, training standards, in the gym, on the pitch. He’s just someone you look up to and want to play with.
“I don’t think we’ll see others play on to 38, yet he makes it look easy. I can tell you as a 29-year-old I don’t know how he does it. He’s a very special player and a special bloke.”
Oghre, whose dancing feet and show-and-go had helped create a first-half try for Zach Kibirige, came under the spotlight for a swinging arm to the neck of Mitchell. Referee Craig Maxwell-keys, after consulting the television match official and his assistants, judged the offence only merited a yellow card. It was a bewildering decision for Boyd.
“There is no doubt it is a red card,” said Boyd, whose side dropped down to third place in the table after their first defeat from four games. “I don’t think there is any malice or intent, it is unfortunate, but if that is not a red card there is no red card.
“I just don’t get it. He hit him with a swinging arm directly to the head. You might say it was less intent, but I don’t get it. I think it was an accident and it is what it is.”
The late try by James Fish rescued a losing bonus point for Saints, but did not spare his side from the wrath of Boyd. Asked if a red card
for Oghre would have changed the game, he retorted: “Probably not. We were probably too dumb to take advantage of the gift we were given anyway. We have only played well in patches, for 10 minutes. We have to find a way to be more consistent.”
It is easy to see the cause of Boyd’s frustration. Northampton, using their big ball-carrying options of Api Ratuniyarawa, Juarno Augustus and Courtney Lawes, seized the early momentum.
The pressure created provided the platform for Saints to engineer a brilliant strike, with Augustus bumping off a tackle, changing direction before delivering a perfectly placed offload to put Sam Matavesi over for the opening score.
Yet Wasps, who had been rooted in their own half, were able to level
the scores with a breakout try inspired by Oghre and it took a superb tackle by Augustus on Thomas Young to prevent another.
Dan Biggar’s penalty briefly reclaimed the lead for Saints, only for Jacob Umaga to cancel it out with one of his own. The Wasps flyhalf surprisingly missed another attempt in front of the posts with the last kick of the half, but the home side’s grip on the contest began to tighten after the break.
Vaea Fifita had a try ruled out for a forward pass in the build-up before Umaga restored the lead with his second penalty. Then a brilliant offload by Young put Robson over. With Saints unable to capitalise on the yellow card for Oghre, they enter a week off with much to contemplate.