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Tous deux plongés dans une saison poussive
It’s a domestic affair in the last of the weekend’s European quarter-finals as London Wasps clash with Aviva Premiership rivals Gloucester for a place in the Amlin Challenge Cup semi-finals.
The English sides will battle it out at Adams Park on Sunday night, with the winner guaranteed a home tie against Bath or Brive in the final four at the back end of the month.
Gloucester and Wasps have already met twice at Kingsholm this season, sharing one win apiece. Wasps edged a thrilling eight-try Premiership encounter back in November thanks to late tries from Guy Thompson and Christian Wade but Nigel Davies’ men atoned for that defeat by claiming a comprehensive LV= Cup victory in February’s rematch courtesy of fine showings from Henry Trinder and Matt Cox, who both scored a brace of tries.
Wasps boss Dai Young will be buoyed by the fact Gloucester have only picked up one away win in five games since qualifying for the knockout stages, but that sole success came in their most-recent outing as they edged past Exeter at Sandy Park last Saturday.
And Wasps haven’t hit top form themselves in recent weeks, winning only once in seven after advancing from their Amlin Challenge Cup pool undefeated.
The capital club will be hoping to emulate their 2003 Amlin Challenge Cup winning campaign, a success that was followed by Heineken Cup glory a year later when Rob Howley squirmed in at the corner to snatch the trophy from Toulouse in front of 73,000 people at Twickenham. Wasps went on to win Europe’s top prize again in 2007 but, although they have now reached the knockout stages of the Amlin Challenge Cup for four years in a row, they are yet to make another continental final in the six seasons that have followed.
Wasps cruised through what seemed to be a tough pool this term, beating the Top 14 pair of Bayonne and Grenoble home and away, and dispatching Italian side Viadana with two bonus point wins to finish as the tournament’s second seeds.
“All players want to be playing at the top end of any competition and this is definitely our most realistic chance of getting some silverware this season,” said Young.
“We've done quite well in Europe since I've been at the club, really. We've lost to the two winners – in the first year we lost to Biarritz and last year we lost to Leinster. So it's taken a good team to beat us.
“We'd like to go a bit further this year. There are no easy games in the knockout stages so we know we are going to have to be at our best but it should be a big occasion so it's something for the boys to look forward to.”
Gloucester want to add to their one European triumph in 2006 when they bagged the Amlin Challenge Cup after a thrilling 36-34 extra-time win against London Irish.
Their earned their hard-fought quarter-final spot after battling to a 36-18 win away to Perpignan, after two defeats to Munster and one to Edinburgh stopped their Heineken Cup campaign earlier than they would have liked.
“This year we've ended up playing better rugby away from home,” said Gloucester captain Mike Tindall. “That's been frustrating for us and frustrating for the fans here at Kingsholm but as long as we can keep up that form on the road and (stick with) the way that we try and play away from home, we're always in with a shout.
“Wasps away won't be easy, though. We've got them twice in the next few weeks but we've had them at home already this season and we played some good rugby against them. Turnovers killed us that day but in the LV= Cup game we got our game on the field and beat them.”
Match facts
London Wasps had the best disciplinary record in the pool stage, conceding a tournament-low 7.8 penalties/free-kicks per game.
Wasps have won more turnovers (56) than any other side in the competition so far this season. James Haskell was top of the individual chart in this category (11).
Sione Kalamafoni (35/35) and Darren Dawiduik (28/28) both completed 100% of the tackles they attempted in the pool stage of this season’s Heineken Cup.
These sides met in the 2010 quarter-finals, a game Wasps won 42-26 with Tom Varndell scoring a hat-trick.
Après deux échecs consécutifs en quart de finale d'Amlin Challenge Cup
London Wasps remain on track for a fourth European trophy after they survived a Gloucester comeback in the final fixture of an action-packed weekend of European rugby.
The 2004 and 2007 Heineken Cup winners secured the last spot in this year’s Amlin Challenge Cup semi-finals with a 36-17 success over their English rivals in an entertaining encounter at Adams Park.
Tries from front rowers Matt Mullan and Carlo Festuccia saw the 2003 tournament winners lead by 20 points with half an hour remaining but Gloucester hit back through Jonny May and Gareth Evans to set up a nervy finish in High Wycombe.
The trusty boot of Andy Goode stemmed the tide, though, and Will Helu’s score put the result beyond any doubt with four minutes left to play.
Martyn Thomas grabbed a consolation try at the death for a Gloucester side who lost veteran centre Mike Tindall to a calf injury before kick off but Nigel Davies and co could have few complaints about the overall result and the end of their European dream for another season.
Wasps were always the more dangerous of the two teams and a dropped ball from an attempted run around in midfield gave them the first scoring chance with six minutes played but Joe Simpson was unable to gather his hack ahead under pressure from Ben Morgan as the rain made life difficult for the lightening quick scrum half.
The first points of the night came courtesy of a 40-metre drop goal from Goode after 13 minutes but the former Heineken Cup winner pulled his opening penalty attempt across the face of the posts five minutes later.
A Matt Kvesic chargedown saw Gloucester finally edge towards the Wasps 22 but turnover ball killed the momentum and it was Wasps who continued to look the stronger in the second quarter.
Dai Young’s side looked to move the ball wide at every opportunity despite the difficult conditions and they were rewarded for that enterprise when Elliot Daly and James Short combined on the right and Gloucester infringed at the breakdown. Goode kicked to the corner and Mullan powered over a phase after a clever offload from No8 Nathan Hughes had stretched the Gloucester defence.
Goode added the extras for a 10 point lead on the half hour and Wasps were good value for that advantage as Gloucester struggled to threaten in the opening 30 minutes.
Rob Cook finally got Gloucester on the board with a straightforward penalty with 33 minutes gone but Goode responded in kind three minutes later. The Gloucester full back failed with a second shot at goal 30 seconds before the break and Goode missed a pot shot drop goal with the final play to leave the scoreline reading 13-3 at half time.
Wasps doubled their advantage in the first five minutes after the restart as Festuccia burrowed over from close-range and Goode converted. Wasps lost Andrea Masi to injury in the build up after his take of Goode’s cross kick had initially earned a five metre scrum but his fellow Italian international ensured his pain didn’t go unrewarded as Gloucester finally buckled after the Wasps pack pounded away at their line.
A third penalty from Goode left Gloucester with a 20-point deficit with less than half an hour remaining but the visitors gave themselves a lifeline when May crossed in the corner for their first try. The England wing sped home from 10 metres out after Freddie Burns’ floated pass just seconds after Hughes had seen yellow for an offence at a Gloucester driving maul.
Cook’s fine conversion from the left-hand touchline brought them back to within two score at 23-10 after 57 minutes and a comeback became a real possibility when replacement back rower Evans barged through Simpson’s attempted tackle for a second score moments later.
Again, the impressive Cook converted from the same touchline and suddenly the gap was down to just six points and Adams Park was noticeably quieter.
The home support found their voice pretty quickly, though, and Goode stemmed the tide with a third penalty from 30 metres out with 15 minutes left. The former England fly half was off target with a kick from out wide four minutes later but he struck again after 71 minutes to give his side some breathing space at 29-17.
Helu finished off some fine work from Daly to end any thoughts of a Gloucester miracle before Thomas at least gave the travelling support something else to shout about with the final play.
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