By Loose Head
April 26 2003

A "full blooded" encounter. A total of five tries all in the first half. Pontypridd chased a 15 point deficit to give a last hurrah to their final season as a separate senior side. It was too high a mountain to climb as Wasps confirmed their place in the PPCC final by winning the second leg 17-27.

A packed Sardis Road, a cool, still spring evening and 80 minutes of character testing rugby.

Euphemistically referred to as "full blooded", it was the sort of physicality that comes with any serious game involving Ponty. The Wasps pack came out of the first encounter by far the stronger. Ponty attempted to work the second leg by setting their backs running. Ponty wing Gareth Wyatt was given the ball with no space. Clearly ready for the in-your-face defence from Wasps, Wyatt chipped Kenny Logan, he collected then chipped Josh Lewsey, collected again and ran in for a fantastic individual try.

Wasps responded with their party piece. A kick to the corner after a penalty to give Wasps a lineout close to the Ponty line. The now reliable Wasps lineout worked again and the dominant pack drove over for Joe Worsley to score. The challenge was taken up by the Wasps backs, who with Josh Lewsey amongst others represent a lethal attack. Alex King chipped long ahead into space for Lewsey to charge through like an express train and collect and score. That occasional back, Simon Shaw found himself out on the wing. The ball came out wide and the Ponty backs had no chance to hold Shaw off.

The centre partnership of Denney and Erinle (known to all as Oogie) gave a physical presence to the midfield to counter whatever the "House of Pain" could throw at them. Denney, with his first start for seemingly ages, showed that he should not be forgotten. He has come in for a lot of criticism for predictable, unimaginative play (as well as a suggestion of an attitude in one or two of his articles). He played well in both attack and defence. Oogie is becoming a bit of a cult hero, a huge presence with speed and agility as well as strength. His tackling is of the brick wall variety. It's great knowing that the young man will get even better.

The battle of the forwards was as feisty as expected. Not helped at all by the referee losing touch with reality. He wasn't biased, just appalling. Dale "Chief" McKintosh, the Ponty number 8, famed for his part in the Battle of Brive, did what he could to whoever was in reach, most notably Dallaglio.

Something happened at a scrum in the dying minutes of the first half which resulted in Craig Dowd being sin-binned. With Dowd off, Ponty cashed in on the numerical advantage with Ceri Sweeney running in a try. Half time score was Ponty 17 Wasps 24.

The second half had only one penalty goal for Wasps to affect the score board. Having seen the match it is hard to reconcile the performance with the lack of a score. The floodlights which were needed as the second half drew on, leave a bit to be desired with big patches of shadow.

This can't have helped matters. There were no Wasps injuries, other than Howley getting a dose of Ponty 'flu - or maybe his ankle was playing up. Knees and fists were going in at rucks, Dowd looking very woosy after one treatment. It would have taken a brave man to order him off.

Dallaglio played one of his best games for ages. He was imperious in attack, looking as if he ran the ball further in this one game than he had done so far all season. Ponty were hampered through not having their first choice back row and Chief being a bit limited in his personal game plan. But you can only play who is in front of you. Dallaglio was rightly named man of the match.

The final score was Ponty 17 Wasps 27. Wasps win with an aggregate margin of 25 points. They go on to the final against Bath who had an aggregate margin over Sarries in their semi-final of zero points. They scrape through having scored more tries.

Loose Head