Gloucester beat Wasps’ hopes by 10-9
Gloucester edged out Wasps at Adam Park yesterday evening with a 10-9 victory in the Aviva Premiership. Gloucester has been upgraded to the fourth position on the table. Gloucester had already scored 10 in the first half and remained defensive in the second
half.
Fly half Nicky Robinson couldn’t score after the first half; it seemed as if his gifted kicking boots have deserted him. On the other hand the only scoring from Wasps was from the boot of Dave Walder, but it wasn’t enough for the hosts to win. Dave Walder
scored three penalties giving Wasps a total score of 9.
Match brought bad news for the teams, as James Simpson Daniel and Tom Varndell the England’s wings had to leave the field on stretchers, due to some serious ankle injuries.
The only change in the Wasps’ squad was the inclusion of number eight back John Hart. He came for his first game since last summer after recovering from a shoulder surgery. Gloucester made two late changes in the squad after the injuries sustained by Alex
Brown and Olly Morgan during the training. Will James the Welsh lock came in for Brown, whereas Tom Voyce was recalled to fill in for Olly Morgan. On the other hand Charlie Sharples was brought to full back.
Pitch was drenched in water due to the heavy rain prior to the match. Gloucester started off wisely and launched a few high balls in to the center, as Ben Jacobs was new to the fullback and was almost unfamiliar to his role.
Wasps had a chance in twelfth minute to score when Joe Worsley got the ball and passed it on to Joe Simpson, who was supposed to make a run for it. But instead the flanker forwarded a pass to Hart, who kicked it ahead and killed the move.
Numerous knock-ons were witnessed and the referee seemed really worked out throughout the match while setting those scrums up. Wasps made many moves towards the touchline, but it was Gloucester who went up straight to score and register the first points
of the game.
Jacobs missed a high kick by Wasps’ skipper Joe Ward and Simpson Daniel didn’t take much time to make use of the blunder. He collected the loose ball and stormed through for a try. Robinson added a conversion. It was odd to see that Mark van Gisbergen the
experienced English fullback was made to sit on bench, while the new fullback Jacobs was having trouble with all the high balls coming his way.
Wasps made many blunders including the loose kick from the captain. The Wasps’ frontline was being casual about receding and gifted the opponents a penalty which Robinson booted decently. There were a lot of questions asked about the Gloucester’s scrum technique
but in Adams Park the major problems weren’t visible and Wasps had to confront a difficult competition in the scrimmage.
Walder scored a penalty after getting his first chance with the ball in the match. Moments later in the second half, Gloucester was charged of offside and Walder booted yet another penalty for Wasps. Gloucester responded by earning a penalty, which Robinson
missed by yards.
Richard Birkett narrowly missed a yellow after moving down a maul and saw Robinson missing yet another penalty in short span of time. Richard Haughton was replaced by Ben Jacobs from fullback to wing and Van Gisbergen was called to the fullback instead.
Wasps seemed much sharper after this development but it was probably too late for them. Wasps missed out on the victory just by inches when Walder’s drop goal went off the posts. Gloucester missed a penalty in the 64thminute awarded due to Serge Betsen’s foul.
London Wasps was on a bad luck day as they missed two crucial penalties and a drop goal, while Gloucester took advantage of their early lead.
Gloucester is standing on fourth position after winning this match and making a total of 36 points on the table, which is 12 points short of the leading side Leicester Tigers. On the other hand London Wasps have moved down to 6th position with 34 points
after losing six matches and drawing one out of a total of 14 fixtures.
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