Edinburgh stung by Wasps and are their own worst enemies
EDINBURGH 30 WASPS 34
Edinburgh coach Mike Blair insisted his team had played some inspired rugby at times yesterday, but accepted they were their own worst enemy at others as they just fell short against Wasps.
The capital club were in the fight right to the end of the Challenge Cup quarter-final and could have snatched a victory in the final play, but over the piece the visitors deserved to go through thanks to their superiority up front.
That forced Edinburgh to concede a lot of penalties, and they had to play the last five minutes a man down after flanker Connor Boyle was shown a yellow card.
Blair admitted that some of the decisions against his team were correct, but claimed he had been baffled by some others made by the French referee.
“The penalty count was 14-7, which was disappointing because I thought some of the calls were right and I couldn’t understand a couple of the other calls,” he said.
“I’m going to have to check the law book on a few to make sure I’m right before I say anything.
“I thought we played some brilliant rugby at times. We took our opportunities better than last week (when they lost to Ulster in the URC), although we probably still left a couple out there, and defended with a huge amount of heart.
“But just a few things, like a couple of kick-offs that we lost where we had fought to get that momentum back, it was like bursting a balloon. Suddenly you’re up against it again, and that can have a big impact. So that was disappointing.
“I’ve such mixed emotions, similar to the Ulster game. I’m so proud of lots of the positive stuff we did, but we undid it with a couple of little brain farts or decisions that went against us.
“The crowd were outstanding and the stadium was absolutely buzzing again. The crowd were putting everything behind the team. But we did lose the game, and I want to be learning lessons while we’re winning games.”
In a frantic end-to-end first half, Wasps took the lead with a Jimmy Gopperth penalty before Emiliano Boffelli drew Edinburgh level with another award.
Tries by Ben Vellacott and Adam Mcburney, both converted by Boffelli, helped get the home team back in front, but Wasps were never out of touch, and were just 17-10 down at the break thanks to a converted try from veteran centre Gopperth.
That became 20-10 early in the second half when Argentine international Boffelli added another penalty, but Wasps took control of the game after that as their forwards exerted their power.
A try by Bi Alo converted by Gopperth was followed by a penalty that made it 20-20, and then Tom West put them back into the lead with another touchdown.
Gopperth’s conversion put Wasps 27-20 ahead, but Edinburgh drew level with barely a dozen minutes left when Magnus Bradbury finished off from a lineout and Boffelli converted.
With eight minutes to play, a long-range penalty by Boffelli put his team 30-27 ahead. But then Boyle was shown the yellow card after collapsing a maul, and after Wasps sent the ball to touch, Man-of-the-match Alfie Barbeary eventually crossed the line. Gopperth converted.
Edinburgh threw everything they had into one last attack, but in the end Wasps broke the offence down to claim their place in the last four.