I DIDN'T THINK THEY WOULD DO IT
Gunners: 32 Wasps: 31
When the Gunners went in at half time 20-13 down, having edged the first half on the balance of play, but given away two Wasp tries directly as a result of hideous unforced errors, your correspondent was one of perhaps many who felt that the game would slip away in the second half, as the former champions turned up the heat. The High Wycombe side had taken their scoring chances well, while the Gunners had chucked away more than a few already. Edinburgh's Heineken campaign would be over almost as soon as it had started. Isn't it great to be so wrong?
Edinburgh's injured breakaway star and ex-Wasp Simon Cross called it right after the Newport game. "We have a habit of turning over the big boys at home in Europe", (or words to that effect) The Colonel had opined. And so it came to pass.
The Gunners had all the pressure in the first ten minutes, with the pack aggressive and the backs looking eager. But Paterson missed a tricky penalty, and Wasps marched up to the other end to set up the first penalty for their Anglo-Dutch Kiwi full back, Mark van Ginsbergen. After Godman had knocked the restart out on the full, van Ginsbergen repeated the trick for a home ruck offence and the Wasps were beginning to get over the gain line.
On 12 minutes, we saw the first of a tactical ploy that served the Gunners well throughout the game, and was to prove crucial in the victory. Wasps' extraordinary swarming (geddit!) defence is the perfect system for the normal Edinburgh attack. They get to the inside centre before he has a chance to think, rendering attacks stillborn. Today, Phil Godman spent much of the time dinking the ball just behind the defensive line, particularly behind right winger Sackey. It was well executed and worked equally well. This time, Jorgensen and Di Rollo came close to a score as a result, but Sackey covered well, although seemed to hold on for some time in the tackle. Paterson got Edinburgh into the game with a penalty two minutes later.
Then the first Edinburgh clanger on 15 minutes. Leonelli failed to find touch with a loose clearance. Van Ginsbergen showed exactly why the England management are so keen to cap him with an excellent jinking run from half way. He seemed to be tackled just short of the tryline by Hugo, but the video referee adjudged that a try had been scored. His conversion gave the visitors a useful 13-3 lead.
He didn't look so clever from the following kick off, though, when he took his time fielding an innocuous clearance in his own 22 and was driven over his line for the Edinburgh scrum 5. Wasps gave away the penalty and Paterson slotted the simple score. 13-6.
In control in the lineout, picking off enemy throws on a regular basis, the Gunners' pack had an edge. With Godman pulling the strings at 10, and the defence working well, it was only a matter of time before the leveller. Great offensive defence saw the ball jolted loose from a Wasps hand. Paterson chased the fly hack ahead and beat the cover for a good opportunist try, which, for some reason, required the approval of the video referee. 13-13 and game on.
But with the Gunners now roaring back into the game, clanger number 2. A van Ginsbergen penalty clattered back off the post. Edinburgh failed to gather, and Voyce nipped over for an alert score, converted by the full back, leaving the half time score 20-13 to Wasps.
The second half brought a return to the Gunners' familiar black shirts. And their mood was clearly pretty dark as they took the game to the visitors, punching a maul into the 22, with Godman releasing Argentine ace Leonelli up the narrow side, with Frank just missing out on the touchdown. A Wasps offside gave Paterson a penalty chance, but the kick went wide.
Happily, though, the Gunners shrugged off the disappointment on 45 minutes. Wasps were reluctant to concede an Edinburgh throw throughout the game, so when another clearance bobbled into the home 22, Godman pounced. The Peroxide Predator hared off and zinged a superb long pass to Leonelli. The winger made good ground, before Hugo took it on and glided then bounced over for a fabulous unconverted try in the corner.
The momentum was rather lost by a subsequent lengthy delay as the referee suffered a nasty looking microphone injury. Godman could have suffered a rather more serious injury, though, when Bracken high tackled him as the five-eighth motored off on another mazy run in traffic, earning a card for his trouble.
Edinburgh almost made the extra man pay big time shortly after, with a good attack seeing Blair dig for the ball in a ruck in order to take advantage of a two man overlap. Wasps were penalised for handling in the ruck, and perhaps a card would have been shown had there been room in the bin. As it was, Paterson knocked Edinburgh into the lead. And he extended the lead to four with another penalty after another dangerous Edinburgh counter was only halted by a deliberate knock on. No card.
Disappointingly, more refereeing microphone malfunctions worked better than a tactical injury to allow the momentum once more to drop. And van Ginsbergen took Wasps to within a point on the hour with another penalty.
Though Wasps were trying to raise the intensity, Edinburgh's defence held firm. And another Paterson penalty with ten minutes on the clock opened up a four point gap once more. Agonisingly, a good series of Wasps phases saw Sackey over in the corner for a good unconverted try to snatch the lead back. Was it all over?
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. With seven minutes of regulation left, Jorgensen retired hurt to be replaced by "Nitro" "Webbo", call him what you will, Webster. It turned out to be a crucial change. With Taylor rightly binned for killing the ball with three minutes to go, van Ginsbergen snatched a penalty to leave the Gunners needing a try.
And Simon W delivered for the short-handed hosts. The Gunners somehow surged through the phases from deep in their own half, keeping the ball alive brilliantly, showing how dangerous quick ball can be. Then the winger materialised on the enemy 22, and sliced back through the cover to score a fantastic try under the posts. The crowd - and not a few members of Her Majesty's Scottish Press corps too, shame on them - went completely ballistic. Edinburgh crowds are sometimes not the most demonstrative, but there will be a few thousand off work tomorrow as a result of severe laryngitis.
But it would not be Edinburgh without a twist.. Paterson's conversion attempt in front of the sticks trundled along the ground, setting up seven more minutes of nail biting. But the Gunners tore into the reigning English and former Heineken champs with gusto and severe aggression. Repeatedly, the ball carrier was cut down and knocked back. And this time the errors came from the visitors as they ran out of ideas. Indeed, only his own slip stopped Paterson from putting the icing on the cake with a fine run through a bemused defence just coming up short.
In Ian McGeechan, Wasps have one of the world's great coaches. In Lawrence Dallaglio, they have one of the dominant personalities in the European game. In Matt Dawson, they have rugby refereeing's equivalent of the great Willie Miller from the all-conquering Aberdeen soccer side of the 1980s (and a class act when he plays rugby too).
But they are only human. If you put them under pressure, they will get shirty and make mistakes. If you isolate them they will hold on in the tackle (if he's in the mood, referee Calvados might even penalise them if you're lucky). And if you score more points than them, they will assuredly be defeated.
What a game! What a crowd!
The Gunners were successful in their quarter final year because they kept their feet on the ground after the brilliant Toulouse win. They will only progress if they win all three home games and at least one away game. Next week's visit to Stradey, then, is another must-win game.
A win like this deserves to be built on.
MAN OF THE MATCH:
PHIL GODMAN came of age as the Gunners' playmaker today. 'Nuff said..
SCORERS:
Gunners: Paterson 1T 5P 1C, Hugo 1T, Webster 1T
Wasps: : van Ginsbergen 1T, 4P 2C, Voyce 1T, Sackey 1T
BONUS POINTS:
If Mossy had managed to jink over deep into injury time, the four tries would have been scored. As it was, Wasps deserved the losing bonus point for contributing hugely to a pulsating game.
TEAMS:
Edinburgh: Hugo; Paterson ©, Di Rollo, Jorgensen, Leonelli; Godman, Blair; Hewett, Hall, Smith, Kellock, Murray, Mustchin, Taylor, Hogg. Replacements: Kelly, Jacobsen, Pringle, Strokosch, Lawson, Hodge, Webster
Wasps: . van Ginsbergen; Sackey, Lewsey, Abbot, Voyce; King, Dawsoin; payne, Ibanez, Bracken, Shaw, Birkett, Hart, Dallaglio, O'Connor.
Referee: Berdos (FRU)
MB