Wasps fightback stuns Tigers
A stunning second half fightback saw Wasps clinch a 37-30 victory over Leicester in a pulsating encounter at Adams Park on Saturday.
By Simon Dilger
Last Updated: 18/09/10 6:27pm
A stunning second half fightback saw Wasps clinch a 37-30 victory over Leicester in a pulsating Aviva Premiership encounter at Adams Park on Saturday.
A diabolical defensive display in the first half had seen the Londoners slump to a 12 point half-time deficit in their first home game of the season.
But the hosts knuckled down after the break to grind out the win, thanks largely to an imperious kicking display by fly-half Dave Walder.
The hosts' usually solid defence sprang leaks on a scale more closely associated with the Titanic as they shipped 30 points in the opening 40 minutes.
After the break, though, Walder dragged his side up by the bootstraps to bring the scores level before orchestrating Richard Haughton's 75th-minute try and converting to grab the win.
Ex-Wasp Jeremy Staunton missed the chance to put the visitors ahead almost immediately, sending his kick wide when his old club were penalised in the opening minute.
But it was another old boy who opened the scoring four minutes later - former Tiger Tom Varndell pouncing as Leicester tried to test him under the high ball.
Blistering
A high-risk crossfield penalty kick from Staunton backfired spectacularly when the winger collected and raced down the touchline for his third try of the season.
Walder missed the conversion but the fly-half made sure he hit the target with a penalty on the 10-minute mark to take his side into an 8-0 lead.
Two minutes later Leicester number eight Thomas Waldrom fell agonisingly short when he bounced off the post attempting to drive over from close range.
The video ref confirmed the no-try although fly-half Staunton added three with a penalty resulting from an earlier infringement.
Walder struck back within minutes, slotting three of his own with a superb long range kick from the halfway line.to make it 11-3.
Leicester's first try came on 18 minutes when poor defending by the hosts saw Alesana Tuilagi exploit the man over with a blistering injection of pace and an exquisite dummy to put Matt Smith over in the left corner.
Staunton missed the conversion to leave the scores on 11-8, but two minutes later he levelled things with a straightforward penalty in front of the sticks.
Exquisite
Within just three minutes the Tigers had their second, the quick-thinking Ben Youngs taking a penalty and bolting through a gap in Wasps' static defence.
The England scrum-half raced to the line unopposed and Staunton added the extras to take his side into a seven-point lead.
Wasps reply came almost immediately, thanks to an exquisite inside ball from Walder to put Varndell into the gap. The winger neatly to sidestepped Staunton and powered away for the try.
Walder added the extras with a tough touchline kick to bring the scores level at 18 apiece with nine minutes to go to the break. But Leicester were far from finished and before the half was over they had two more tries in the bag.
Centre Billy Twelvetrees needed little encouragement on 34 minutes to barge his way through a dismal tackle by full-back Mark van Gisbergen and score under the posts, while Staunton added the extras to make it 25-18.
And three minutes later Tom Croft piled over in the corner from the back of the ruck to secure a bonus point as numerous Wasps defenders simply stood by and watched.
Remarkable
Staunton could not find the target with his touchline conversion to leave his side leading 30-12 at the interval.
The first points of the second half came after 54 minutes and a much better effort from the hosts, Walder slotting three points to close the gap to 21-30.
Two minutes later Tom Rees was denied on the line, the video ref confirming that the ball had knocked out of his hand as he crossed. Walder though, added three more to make it 24-30.
Twelvetrees missed a 40m penalty from almost in front on 65 minutes but two minutes later Walder slotted an almost identical effort to draw his side within three points.
The sure footed fly-half brought his side level with 10 minutes to go, striking a straightforward three pointer when the visitors were pinged in front of the post.
With just five minutes to go the hosts continued their remarkable turnaround when replacement Haughton latched onto Walder's delightful chip over the Leicester defence to flop down for the try.
Fittingly, Walder finished things off with a tough touchline conversion under pressure to take his side to a victory that had seemed highly improbable three-quarters of an hour earlier.