Boar Sport at the Ricoh: London Wasps 34-24 Sale Sharks

London Wasps have been in strong form in the Aviva Premiership so far this season, but suffered a sizable blip at Gloucester last week. Sale, playing in lurid green, offered an opportunity  to make amends.

Wasps’ backs continued to impress in flashes, be it Jimmy Gopperth’s sidestepping, the powerful running of Frank Halai or Wade’s electrifying pace

But it was the Manchester side that flew out of the blocks. Eight minutes of solid territory resulted in a near miss for Wasps – Will Addison not quite touching down legally – and three points courtesy of the boot of AJ MacGinty. That was a wake up call for the home side and their back line kicked into gear.

Image: Alex Jennings

Central to this was Danny Cipriani, lining up against his former club in his 150th appearance in a Wasps jersey. Fittingly, it was he who provided the opener, after an initial excellent breakthrough combination by Christian Wade and Thomas Young. Wasps’ backs continued to impress in flashes, be it Jimmy Gopperth’s sidestepping, the powerful running of Frank Halai or Wade’s electrifying pace. But, after a Gopperth penalty made it 10-3, the forwards took over.

First, the imposing figure of Ashley Johnson touched down following some very patient build up and proficient forward play. Wasps began to dominate the scrum, winning a penalty that led to a lineout in a very promising position. Once again, there was no stopping Johnson, who bounced off a tackle with ease to score his second of the game. With the home side winning even the Sale lineouts, the first half ended a one-sided 22-3.

The game entered a phase that can only be described as manic

Yet Wasps started the half sluggishly again and this time were made to pay, with lock Bryn Evans going over. If nerves were starting to creep in a tad amongst the Wasps faithful, Rob Miller dispelled them – skipping past a flurry of tackles to secure a bonus point and comfortable lead.

At this point, the game entered a phase that can only be described as manic. Just a minute later Miller was celebrating again after his side capitalised smartly on a Sale error. The home crowd, celebrating the debut of Jack Willis, was swiftly silenced by another Sale try for Evans after Cipriani – though generally excellent – fluffed his kick. The final scoring action was another try, this time by Mike Haley, to bring the scores to 34-24. Perhaps Wasps Director of Rugby Dai Young’s understandable decision to sub key players had told.

After the game, the directors of rugby cut very different figures in their post-match press conferences. We’d been sat behind Sale Director of Rugby Steve Diamond throughout the contest and witnessed his take on the game at close quarters. In the media room, Diamond bluntly criticised the referees then left rapidly, whereas Young, though acknowledging that it was a “no where near an 80 minutes performance”, cheerily praised man-of-the-match Johnson and said his team were “very good in patches.”

Young, though acknowledging that it was a “no where near an 80 minutes performance”, cheerily praised man-of-the-match Johnson and said his team were “very good in patches”

A strong response from Wasps after their Gloucester nadir – they now look forward to a trip to stragglers Worcester next week.