By Vicky C
May 22 2007

And so Tigers came to Twickenham yesterday chasing the final leg of an unprecedented treble. Unfortunately, Wasps hadn’t read the script and had made the most of their enforced 3 week rest to completely lay waste to all of the carefully laid plans of Paddy and Cockers.

Such was the difference in the Wasps performance from the league meeting at the end of April, you do wonder if there had been an element of sandbagging going on.Wasps certainly came out of the blocks from the kick off and really played a full 80 minutes of rugby. 

King and Goode swapped early penalties, but it seemed right from the start that Tigers might struggle to get the necessary grip on the game.  And so it proved.  Where Gloucester had capitulated in both the set piece and the loose the previous week, Wasps not only competed, but on more than one occasion turned the whole situation completely on its head and secured a steady stream of turnover ball. 

The first key moment of the game came on 14 minutes when, from a lineout close to the Tigers line, Ibañez threw a cheeky underarm pass to Reddin who sprinted through the hole made by the Tigers lineout to score unopposed in the corner.  King threw the Tigers a lifeline by missing the conversion, but it mattered little.  Tigers seemed half a yard slower to the breakdown, and turnover after turnover ensued because the basics went AWOL from the Tiger’s game.  As the game wore on, it seemed as if the panic button had been firmly pressed as Tigers were forced into speculative passes as the Wasps back row and defence took complete control, and rendered Moody, Corry and Jennings efforts ineffectual.Now it’s not often that the Tigers lineout is suckered in a match, but to have it happen twice in the same half was downright careless. 

Wasps gained another lineout close to the Tigers line some 20 minutes later.  Ibañez threw low this time to Shaw, who threw the ball straight back to Ibañez and he scampered over for the second try.  There was some debate as to whether the ball had actually gone 5 metres from the initial throw, but the officials deemed the try sound and Wasps were cantering away into the sunset.  The last of Tigers points came from another penalty just before half time.  In the second half things lurched from bad to worse and the frustration began to show as the penalty count began to increase. 

King kept the Tigers pegged back and the scoreboard ticking over.As Gibson left the field for the final time in a Tigers shirt, things got worse when a beautiful gliding break by Geordan Murphy was wasted when Smith ran through and failed to collect the ball and knocked on.

  Despite a whopping 62% of second half possession, Tigers failed to score any more points in the match.  Wasps completely dominated the backs and Tuilagi and Rabeni were completely shut out of the game. 

Dallaglio departed for the afternoon on 51 minutes, his job well and truly complete, and in his place James Haskell came on to run the Tigers ragged.  The afternoon was completely summed up when Tigers lost control of a scrum in a promising position at the end for Haskell to sprint 80 metres upfield, to be dragged down by Humphries just short of the line.Wasps had the game by the scruff of the neck and weren’t about to let go.  King slotted over the ensuing penalty, his final act in the game. 

Tigers looked tired and jaded and were never allowed to get into the game.  The set piece was completely neutralised, to such an extent that the young Tom French even got the better of Julian.  There wasn’t one point in the afternoon when we looked like having any control of the match at all.Credit for this remarkable Wasps performance surely must go to the tactical genius that is Ian McGeechan, and the 3 weeks of rest that their team enjoyed. 

As Leo, Shane, Daryl and Paddy set off for pastures new, it’s not how many fans would like to remember their last game in the shirt.  Many on this board would like to say thanks for the memories guys.  Despite this woeful loss, you have all given us so many memories to treasure and we thank and applaud you.

Scorers: Leicester: Penalty goals: Goode 3 (7, 17, 39).

Wasps: Tries: Reddan (14), Ibañez (34). Penalty goals: King 4 (5, 42, 49, 74). Dropped goal: King (54). Teams:Leicester: G Murphy, S Rabeni, D Hipkiss, D Gibson , A Tuilagi; A Goode, F Murphy; M Ayerza, G Chuter, J White, L Deacon, B Kay, L Moody, S Jennings, M Corry.
Replacements: S Vesty, O Smith, I Humphreys, A Moreno, J Buckland, L Cullen, B Deacon

.London Wasps: D Cipriani; P Sackey, F Waters, J Lewsey, T Voyce; A King, E Reddan, T French, R Ibañez, P Vickery, S Shaw, T Palmer, J Worsley, T Rees, L Dallaglio. Replacements: D Waldouck, M van Gisbergen, R McMillan, J Ward, P Bracken, D Leo, J HaskellReferee: A Lewis (Ireland)