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La dernière fois que le club basé aujourd'hui à Coventry a joué un quart de finale de Champions Cup
Exeter Chiefs did a job on Wasps the last time they met at the Ricoh Arena and Thomas Waldrom had a field day, scoring three of his side’s six tries in their epic 41-27 win in the Aviva Premiership.
Can lightening strike twice in the same place? Not if Dai Young’s Wasps side have got anything to do with it!
The now Midlands-based club have become the talk of Europe with their exciting brand of rugby and they warmed-up for their second successive Champions Cup quarter-final with a 28-6 home win over another of the clubs in the last eight, Northampton Saints. They are a team on a mission – and have been ever since they were narrowly beaten by the soon to be triple champions RC Toulon in last year’s quarter-finals.
Just how much they have improved under Young’s excellent stewardship was revealed by them winning this season’s ‘Pool of Death’. The fact they had to play and beat previous champions Leinster and Bath, as well as meet the reigning champions Toulon once again, to get into the last eight spoke volumes about their advance.
Not that the Chiefs have been sitting on their hands this season. They emerged triumphant from a pool that included the Ospreys, Bordeaux-Begles and ASM Clermont Auvergne – they picked up a bonus point against each and every one of them at Sandy Park.
They currently lie in second place in the Aviva Premiership behind Saracens, two points ahead of Wasps, and look set for their first play-off since rising from the Championship in 2010. They are a side that has come a very long way in an incredibly short space of time, but you write off Rob Baxter’s men at your peril!
Included among the coaching ranks is a man who knows exactly what it takes to win the top prize in European club rugby, the former Northampton Saints outside half Ali Hepher, and he can’t wait for the quarter-final to come around.
“We’ve got a big week coming up – it’s our first quarter-final in the top competition, which is great for us, but we’re not just turning up to have a laugh. It’s important we knuckle down because we are capable of winning up there,” said Hepher.
“We know that from earlier in the season, so we’re excited about the opportunities. You only have to win three games and you win the lot, so we’re not too far away.”
Can the Chiefs really go all the way and provide the Premiership with their first European champion since Wasps won their second title in 2007? Perhaps it’s not such a long shot.
They possess international players in every rank of the scrum and throughout their three-quarter line. Last weekend they had hat-tricks from their No 8 and their wing, showing they can play very effectively in different ways.
They’ll need every variation in style they can conjure up at the Ricoh, where they notched three tries from driving line-outs in December, because Wasps possess pace, power and panache in abundance with a side that is among the most pleasing on the eye in Europe.
There is a massive prize at stake or both clubs, who meet again in the Premiership on 1 May and could then clash in the play-offs, with a semi-final against familiar opposition in either Saracens or Northampton Saints. Wasps have the history in Europe, and recent experience at this level, but the Chiefs have proved they fear no-one with their remarkable rise through the ranks.
This is going to be one of those games to sit back and savour – a potentially explosive European extravaganza that will contain plenty of skill, tries and points. Picking a winner, though, is almost impossible.
Notes
- Wasps have won six of their last seven knockout matches in the Champions Cup including each of their last three against Aviva Premiership clubs.
- Wasps have won only three of their last six matches at home in the Champions Cup (D1, L2), this after winning 15 in a row before that.
- Exeter will be making their Champions Cup quarter-final debut; they have won one of two quarter-final appearances in the Challenge Cup.
- Exeter are the only club to reach this season's quarter-finals without winning an away fixture in the pool stage.
- Wasps' Charles Piutau (561) was the only player to make more than 500m in the pool stage.
- George Smith made more tackles than any other player in the pool stage (81).
- Exeter spent longer in possession than any side during the pool stage of the tournament, averaging 20 minutes and 6 seconds per game; no other team averaged more than 19 minutes in possession.
- Wasps conceded only two second half tries in the pool stage, the fewest of any team and seven fewer than Exeter (9).
- Exeter (492m) and Wasps (486m) gained more metres than any other teams during the pool stage.
- Wasps scored four tries off scrums in the pool stage, the second most of any team and only one fewer than Scarlets (5).
Jimmy Gopperth's conversion in the last second of the match stole a sensational 25-24 triumph for Wasps over the Exeter Chiefs and a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup semi-finals. - 09/04/2016 17:20
Jimmy Gopperth’s conversion in the last second of the match stole a sensational 25-24 triumph for Wasps over the Exeter Chiefs and a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup semi-finals.
The Chiefs, who were playing second-tier English rugby six years ago, looked to have earned a place in Europe’s last four after a double from the continent’s leading try scorer Thomas Waldrom, before Harry Williams looked to have sealed it with a drive over score to put Exeter 13 points ahead.
But Frank Halai added to Charles Piutau’s first-half score, before the All Blacks back crossed in the final minute. And Gopperth showed nerves of steel to slot the conversion from out-wide and earn a semi-final against either Saracens or Northampton Saints.
Wasps had all the early possession but the Chiefs held firm on the halfway line. But after five minutes of disciplined defending, Luke Cowan-Dickie finally gave a penalty away at a ruck, and Jimmy Gopperth fired the home side in-front.
A searing break from Siale Piutau put Wasps on the attack deep in Chiefs territory before a fumble allowed Exeter to clear. But the visitors were guilty of going off their feet at the next ruck and Gopperth doubled the lead.
But fortune favoured the brave. Rob Baxter’s men turned down a number of kickable penalties, and got their reward after 34 minutes. The Chiefs turned on the power from a close range lineout to shunt Waldrom over the line for his fifth try in four Champions Cup matches this season. Steenson converted to snatch the lead from the home side.
Gopperth hit the post with a penalty moments later, and he was made to pay by European Rugby’s leading try scorer. Waldrom intercepted a pass from Bradley Davies and charged towards the try line from 35 metres. The ‘tank engine’ was dragged down five metres short, but his momentum took him over the line for his 19th score of the season. Steenson was on target with the conversion to give his side a 14-6 half-time lead.
But Wasps reacted in sensational style after the break. Siale Piutau broke the line and fed Dan Robson, who sent an inch perfect grubber kick into the path of Charles Piutau. The All Black collected the bounce and dotted down. Gopperth missed the conversion, but Wasps had cut the gap to 14-11 after four second-half minutes.
But there was no stopping a rampant Chiefs from reasserting their dominance. They rumbled back downfield after Wasps score, and Don Armand carried hard. But it was front-row replacement Williams who used every inch of his giant frame to barge over to reclaim a 10 point advantage.
Stevenson added a penalty that looked to have wrapped it up, before Wasps turned on the style to get back in the game. Elliot Daly’s break from behind his own line gave Wasps crucial territory, before they worked the ball wide again to Thomas Young, who offloaded to Saile Piutau. He found Halai on the charge, and wing scored a crucial seven point score to cut the gap to six points.
And the hosts dug-deep to steal it at the death. Daly found Piutau after the forwards were repelled, and the full-back crashed in at the corner. And Gopperth showed nerves of steel to land the difficult conversion and send Wasps to their first semi-final since 2007.
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