Wasps sting Leicester yet again
September 26 2008
London Wasps finally got their season underway as they defeated old rivals Leicester 28-19 at Welford Road on Friday.
Jeremy Staunton was the inspiration behind the Guinness Premiership champions' first win of the season as the fly-half kept Wasps in contention until a scrappy encounter was settled twelve minutes from time by substitute Damien Varley's try.
Toby Flood's boot and a try by Johne Murphy had put the Tigers on the brink of victory before Ian McGeechan's men launched a late comeback.
The referee's whistle dominated the early stages of the game with England star Flood and Staunton kicking two penalties apiece in the opening ten minutes.
After meeting seven times in the past 22 months - the last being Wasps' 26-16 victory over Leicester in the grand final at Twickenham - the two teams gave little away until the hosts made the breakthrough with six minutes of the half remaining.
Former All Black Aaron Mauger broke through a tackle in midfield and timed his short pass to Murphy to perfection. Flood's conversion made it 13-6.
Wasps aimed to bounce back immediately but, after a kick over the top from Josh Lewsey, Dominic Waldouck was denied by Tigers winger Tom Varndell.
After the break the visitors wasted no time closing the gap with Staunton's 43rd-minute penalty.
But Flood was on the mark from wide left just 60 seconds later to a reinstate a seven-point lead at 16-9.
The visitors fly-half then nailed a 35-metre drop-goal on 46 minutes and added another soon after to pull the deficit back to one point.
With the game tight and tensions running high, all 30 men squared up in midfield for a push and shove contest.
Wasps picked up a penalty for their troubles and Staunton stroked the ball over to put his side ahead for the first time on the night.
But Heyneke Meyer's side refused to give up and Flood kicked Leicester back into the lead from 45 metres, before Staunton again managed to edge the visitors 21-19 ahead.
Wasps stretched their lead to nine points when substitute Varley ended a spell of ten phases of possession and Staunton's kick made it 28-19.
And the visitors maintained possession late on to deny Leicester and grind out their first victory of the season against their fierce rivals.
The scorers:
For Leicester:
Tries: Murphy
Con: Flood
Pen: Flood 4
For Wasps:
Tries: Varley
Con: Staunton
Pen: Staunton 3
Drop: Staunton 3
Leicester Tigers: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Ben Woods, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 Martin Corry (c), 3 Dan Cole, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Julian White, 18 Ben Kay, 19 Ben Herring, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Tom Youngs, 22 Ayoola Erinle.
London Wasps: 15 Tom Voyce, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Dominic Waldouck, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Josh Lewsey, 10 Jeremy Staunton, 9 Mark Robinson, 8 John Hart, 7 Tom Rees, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Richard Birkett, 3 Phil Vickery (c), 2 Rob Webber, 1 Tim Payne
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 Pat Barnard, 18 Dan Leo, 19 Serge Betsen, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Dave Walder, 22 Rob Hoadley.
Referee: Wayne Barnes