Wasps 24 Harlequins 18:ON PAPER this was a capital victory for Wasps over their traditional London rivals but it may yet come at a heavy price for English rugby. Two of England's potential starting back row, Tom Rees and Nick Easter, were forced to leave the field with untimely injuries while Danny Cipriani's start to 2009 revived uncomfortable memories of his international travails last November. The watching national team coach, Martin Johnson, has much to ponder with the start of the Six Nations Championship barely a month away.
Rees's left medial knee ligament and Easter's back will be monitored closely by their respective club coaches with important Heineken Cup pool games looming and Quins must hope that their limping All Black fly-half Nick Evans makes a similarly speedy recovery. The next fortnight will also shape Cipriani's immediate future, with the 21-year-old now an increasingly marked man. Two more charge-downs were added to his debit sheet yesterday and the young outside-half needs a couple of good games against Bath and Leinster if he wants to make certain of regaining his Test starting place.
All that mattered to Wasps last night, however, was making an on-field statement of intent. Had they lost, they would have entered the second half of the season a distant 22 points off the pace in 10th position and struggling to make the European cut, never mind the top four. On the back of a compelling first-half display and a huge defensive effort led by the flanker Serge Betsen, they now sit in eighth place with 11 games to play, just about in touch if they can maintain this momentum. The contractual issues swirling around Cipriani and James Haskell no longer seem quite so distracting.
For Cipriani, however, this was another curate's egg to set before Johnson and the England attack coach, Brian Smith. He started smoothly enough, slotting his first three penalties to give the home side a 9-0 lead, but at least one stentorian voice in the main stand - "Bring on Walder" - was demanding a change at No10 long before it occurred with 15 minutes left. The second charge-down by Evans, led directly to a Quins' penalty try which briefly threatened to revive a contest that seemed over when Wasps went in 21-3 ahead at half-time. Danny Care's subsequent stunning individual chip-and-chase effort further narrowed the gap but, with Simon Shaw back from the sin-bin, the home side's first-half efforts were ultimately rewarded.
It was a vital result given the sorry nature of Wasps' 31-3 defeat to Sale Sharks the previous week. A fresh row is bubbling, though, over the vexed question of precisely when Premiership clubs can play their England squad members. As far as Wasps were concerned, Paul Sackey was fit to play yesterday but the England management felt otherwise, saying the winger had to rest in order to heal the ankle injury he suffered against Sale last week.
An irritated Ian McGeechan has indicated he will be discussing the subject with Johnson this week, particularly as Easter and Ugo Monye both started for Quins for the third game in a row over the Christmas period.
As it turned out, however, sod's law soon intervened. Both the Quins' ever-presents failed to last the half, with Easter looking extremely stiff and sore, while Sackey's replacement, the 21-year-old Chris Bishay, scored an outstanding first-half try which put the home side virtually out of sight at 21-3. Bishay will relish watching the replays of his plunge into the right corner after penetrative approach work from Haskell and Dominic Waldouck and good hands from Cipriani, playing without his usual protective headgear.
It was due reward for the hard work of the Wasps prop Phil Vickery, who gave poor Aston Croall an early grilling, with Quins first-half efforts falling well short of the standards to which they now aspire. Wasps, however, are nothing if not cussed in tough situations and 152 tackles reflected a bruising contest. Rees, already suffering from a battered nose, lasted only three minutes while the England lock Tom Palmer sees a specialist today and may conceivably need a shoulder operation.
LONDON WASPS: Van Gisbergen; Bishay, Waldouck, Flutey, Voyce; Cipriani (Walder, 66), Reddan; French, Webber (Ward, 62), Vickery (capt), Shaw, Skivington (Rees, 68), Leo (Birkett, 56), Betsen, Haskell. HARLEQUINS: Brown; Williams, Tiesi, Turner-Hall (Malone, 51), Monye (Barry, 37); Evans, Care; Croall, Brooker, Ross, Percival (Evans, 57), Robson, Robshaw, Skinner (capt), Easter (Guest, 22).
Referee: S Davey (RFU).
l Leicester staged a stunning late fightback to dent Bath's Guinness Premiership title ambitions in a thriller that ended 24-22. England flanker Tom Croft scored two tries to overhaul Bath, who had led 22-9. Fly-half Derick Hougaard kicked 14 points from four penalties and a match-winning conversion. League leaders London Irish regained top spot on Saturday by beating Newcastle 48-8.
