Premiership Review - Wasps 36 - 29 Exeter Chiefs

Think ‘entertainment’ in the Premiership and your first thought is probably, and quite fairly, Harlequins.  Bags of young English talent, a beautiful offloading game – what’s not to like?  Aside from the lack of consistency and disappointing results this season, of course.  The more traditional or one-eyed of you may automatically think of Gloucester, usually the breeding ground of an electric young backline that could slice teams apart on any given day?  It’s not so much the case anymore, due to injury, and that Cherry and White’s pack is taking a more prominent role – not that the Shed is complaining.  The more cruel amongst you may point to London Welsh, because you think seeing a team suffer without hope is somehow amusing, but then you’d be a monster.  No, the title for the most entertaining rugby side this year is shared between Wasps and Exeter (with a nod to Northampton, of course).  These are two sides who have found a wonderful balance between forward and back play; brute force and slick accuracy, all driven ambition and precision at a high tempo.  The clash at the Ricoh Arena on Sunday was always going to be a cracker, even with a top 4/top 6 spot on the line.

Wasps, of course, were boosted by the “Little n’ Large” combination of Christian Wade and Nathan Hughes, two of their most incisive – albeit very different – attacking threats.  There’s a not unreasonable school of thought (read: my match preview)that the Coventry club may even have had enjoyed a different outcome against the European Kings, Toulon, in their Champions Cup quarter final had they taken to the field, and that incredibly wise declaration was given more credibility as the two combined to put the hosts ahead after just 70 seconds.  Hughes was the architect off the back of a scrum 15 metres out, getting on the outside of a surprisingly sluggish Dave Ewers, drawing in 2 defenders and offloading to Wade, who held his width well to scoot over in the corner.  It was another reminder that Wasps’ attacking game has flourished this year, in stark contrast to Andy Goode’s hairline – but it didn’t stop the fly half from masterfully hammering the conversion over from the touchline.

Exeter though, have found a level of ambition and consistency this season that matches their renowned determination when up against it, and the Chiefs surged forward with, predictably, Tom Waldrom and Ewers carrying strongly.  After a half break, Will Chudley spotted a gaping hole at the side of the ruck and darted over from 20 metres to tie the game up, thanks to Henry Slade’s conversion, after just 5 minutes.

It had been a frenetic opening, and the game was about to take another surprising turn, albeit this time in the rather more claustrophobic environment of the scrum as Wasps shunted the Chiefs backwards to win a penalty just inside their own half.  I say this was a surprise because many people (myself included) had the scrum down as an area of potential dominance for the visitors, particularly in the way that they barrelled Northampton off their own ball just a few weeks ago.  But what do I know hey?  Elliot Daly stepped up and slammed over a monster 52 metre effort to put the hosts back ahead.  A further exchange of 3 pointers from Goode and Slade gave Wasps a lead of 13 – 10 after 20 minutes.

It was a ding-dong battle, but as the game wore on the hosts began to take charge.  With Hughes and Ashley Johnson catching the eye with some blockbusting carries that their counterparts Waldrom and Ewers would have been proud off, Daly and Wade were finding the space to get the crowd on their feet by showcasing their electric footwork and acceleration, without being able to quite break clear.  Goode, perhaps not so nimble on his feet but razor sharp off the tee, hammered over 2 more penalties to reward his side’s dominance.  Slade then grabbed another couple of kicks back for his side but the men in black were given a further boost when Waldrom was sent to the naughty boy corner for 10 minutes for a deliberate knock on.  It was one of those where most would have sympathy for the big man – he was trying to catch it by flipping it up one handed and running on to it – but, these days, if you try to cut out a pass with just a single mitt, you are asking for trouble.

Wasps took immediate advantage of being a man up against a set piece that was already struggling and blaster the visitors backwards over their line, forcing them to concede a penalty try and giving the hosts a 26 – 16 half time lead.

It was an imposing lead.  But the Chiefs, upon the resumption, were in the mood to do a little imposing of their own.  The return of Waldrom and the industry of Ewers and Jack Nowell in the midfield meant that the visitors began to find a bit more thrust than they perhaps had been before,  but despite the pressure the men in white came away empty handed time and again, with indiscipline being a recurring theme – and, it’s a shame to say, their skipper Dean Mumm was one of the chief culprits,  conceding 3 penalties in the match.  Goode was on hand once again to make the skipper pay for his transgressions with another successful kick, but the introduction of Damien Welch and Luke Cowan-Dickie seemed to reinvigorate the Chiefs and they finally made the pressure count on the hour mark.  After a rolling maul had come up just short, that man Waldrom atoned for his earlier sin-binning with a trademark wrestle over the line to bring the visitors within 6 of the hosts, after Slade’s conversion.

The young fly half tyro then smashed over another penalty from half way, with Goode missing one himself, to make it a 3 point game and assure people that his kicking wobbles against Leicester a month ago were a mere blip in an otherwise steep upward development curve.  The hosts hadn’t really been able to get anything going in the second half and now the home crowd fell silent as they feared a turnaround and a top 6 finish, let alone a top 4 one, being thrown in doubt.  One Wasp, however, answered those doubts in the most emphatic way.

Joe Simpson had been very good throughout the game, kicking pretty well and making some smart snipes, but now he really let loose like we know he can.  Taking a loose kick behind the half way line, he checked the blindside, saw it was a blind alley, then cut back infield to scorch through a gap before turning on the afterburners to leave Waldrom and Tom James for dead.  Goode converted, and Wasps had the game won with 3 minutes left to play.

The Chiefs did muster one final attack to allow substitute Gareth Steenson to nudge over a sweetly struck drop goal to ensure that Exeter went home with something, but there was no doubt at all that is was Wasps’ day.  And, taking a look at the remaining fixtures, is too farfetched to wonder if this is Wasps season?