Wasps repair the damage at Irish (From Bucks Free Press)

Wasps repair the damage at Irish

4:46pm Sunday 8th November 2009

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LONDON IRISH 20, WASPS 24.

JUST 24 hours after England's one-dimensional defeat to Australia, Wasps and London Irish gave Martin Johnson something to think about by displaying a rugby philosophy that appears alien to him in an absorbing Anglo Welsh Cup tie at the Madejski Stadium.

Led by George Skivington, Wasps won it thanks to tries from David Lemi and Mark van Gisbergen, but for both sets of supporters the game itself was the antidote to watching ailing England huff and puff and toil with neither flair nor finesse.

A break from Dave Walder – a show and go before darting through the Irish line – created the first try with less than a minute on the clock and that set the template for a game in which both teams threw caution to the wind.

The passes completed counter must have ticked past England's total inside ten minutes and the 10,010 fans enjoyed every one of them, oohing and aahing as flat balls whizzed inches in front of opponents noses.

More than once Wasps diced with the intercept try but their boldness paid off and at least their back three were something more than just spectators with the best seats.

Winger Lemi touched down the first try as he took Walder's offload to blaze over with 57 seconds on the clock and later in the half it was the turn of full back van Gisbergen to breach Irish after Ben Jacobs had galloped into open ground after quick inter-play among the backs.

In between Wasps had come desperately close again when Walder joined the line to take Lemi's do-or-die pass in his stride.

His chip and chase exposed Irish, but full back Jamie Lennard got back just in time to hack the ball behind.

It wasn't just Wasps though. The Exiles were no less expansive and within minutes of Lemi's try Peter Hewat had capitalised on an overlap down the right to level the scores at 5-5.

The Irish wing then converted to make it 7-5, but although he added another three points after 21 minutes it was more about the ones that got away in the first half as he sent three other penalties and a drop goal wide.

With Walder landing three out of four, it added up to an 18-10 Wasps lead at the interval and seconds after the restart they were within an ace of stretching it when Lemi tore after a lost cause down the left wing.

Incredibly, he caught up with the ball before it bobbled away, but his attempt to kick beyond Lennard bounced off the full back's shins and out of play.

Instead, Hewat scored and converted his second try to make it 18-17 and provide the game with the final half-hour it deserved.

Wasps edged away after feverish defending drove Irish back and eventually won a penalty which Walder snapped up, Irish responded when Lennard - taking over from Hewat - landed a three-pointer of his own from 45m, and then a drop goal from Lemi restored the four-point lead with seven minutes left.

Irish pushed hard for the winning score and their pressure told when Simon Shaw and then Joe Simpson were sent to the sin bin in the final minutes.

But the 13 men hung on to start their Anglo Welsh campaign on the front foot – a home win over Gloucester next weekend and they'll have one foot in the semi-finals.

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