By Sundance
September 18 2006

It is hard enough to beat Wasps with a full team but sin binnings for Vos, Volley and Luscombe meant Harlequins spent half an hour trying to do it with a man short.

And each time Quins were reduced to 14, Wasps scored a try. Indeed if Wasps had been more clinical they could have crossed Quins’ line five times more than they did. Late scores from Easter and Luscombe gave the visitors some consolation but the final scoreboard could have been very ugly.

The contrast in attitude of the opposing coaches following the match was revealing. While Dean Richards talked of the positives, Ian McGeechan was highly frustrated with his side’s inefficiency. He may not have been happy with the performance but his club is top of the table. Richards says he still has huge faith in his side but Quins already seem consigned to a relegation battle with Worcester. Mid-table security seems a long way off.

“Discipline is of paramount importance,” said Richards. “We have to make sure we have 15 men on the field.” And with a full side on the pitch, Quins did battle hard. The last ditch tackling was often impressive but it was simply delaying the inevitable. Quins gave it everything but still they were almost blown away. That is a severe worry.

Remarkably, Quins could still have salvaged a bonus point. They were never going to stay within seven points of Wasps but Ugo Monye, who had scored an early try against the run of play failed to take a pass at the start of the second half with the try line begging. Added to Easter and Luscombe’s tries, Quins could have scored four. With the late loss to Irish and the spurned penalty at the end of the Gloucester match, the club could now have six points in the table rather than one. Come the end of the season those missed opportunities may look increasingly costly.

It was a glorious sunny day at Adams Park, perfect conditions for rugby but still only 7,300 were there and in the end a succession of blood bins, yellow cards and mass replacements made the match a rather stilted affair. Keeping track of who was coming and going became a task in itself.

With Abbott banned from playing against his old club Mel Deane started in the centre and Chris Hala’Ufia replaced Nick Easter. Adrian Jarvis was at fly-half after Andrew Mehrtens was sidelined from his knee operation.

Jarvis opened the scoring on seven minutes with a penalty, though he had missed a simpler attempt in the opening minute. Walder in sympathy immediately missed an easy chance to equalise.

Wasps 0 Harlequins 3

Vos and Hayter had both already left the field for blood injuries and Quins were under siege. Jarvis made some good distance on a couple of clearance kicks but Wasps had all the possession and all the territory and were carrying the ball through phase after phase. A catch and drive from a line-out nearly brought the first try but the ball was spilled.

Then Sackey made the first of his many dangerous bursts down the right wing only to be stopped by desperate defence. Wasps were coming at Quins from all angles and the try was only a surprise in that it took 15 minutes to arrive. From another attacking line-out a regulation catch and drive took Dan Leo over. Walder converted.

Wasps 7 Quins 3

Almost immediately came a Quins try out of the blue. From the restart Wasps knocked on. Vos came back on in time for the scrum and after good work from Hala’Ufia, Monye ran in on the right, unopposed. Jarvis missed the conversion from wide out.

Wasps 7 Quins 8

Wasps came storming back and knocked on close to the Quins tryline. Quins were desperately hanging on with defiant tackling but they were stretched to the limit and it was obvious more tries were going to come.

The referee was finding fault with nearly every scrum and free kicks or penalties were being awarded at almost every one. From one of these, on 25 minutes, Walder put Wasps ahead.

Wasps 10 Quins 8

The Quins lineout now started to creak too. Hayter, back on after his blood replacement, threw the ball too far and it missed every Quin, falling instead into the hands of Ibanez who went on the charge. Vos infringed and was carded. Within four minutes the extra man told. Quins again threw everything into their tackles but Wasps’ skipper John Hart went over and Walder converted.

Wasps 17 Quins 8

Again Wasps dropped the restart, this time backwards and after Voyce burst into the line from full back and made good yards, another player was injured: Hoadley leaving to be replaced by Doherty.

On 35 minutes Quins got a rare scrum in Wasps territory. Wasps pulled it down and Jarvis fired a strong penalty over from 35 yards out.

Wasps 17 Quins 11

Jarvis made another booming clearance kick and Vos returned to bring Quins back to full strength. Williams went for a garryowen which went straight up in the air, bringing jeers from the locals. However he did well to regather it and make it available. A Wasp failed to roll away in the tackle but from just inside Wasps’ half Jarvis struck his kick well but it went wide. Eight points had now gone begging.

Walder then also showed some kicking frailty sending a punt dead to give Quins a scrum on halfway. Quins couldn’t make use of it though and when Wasps retook possession another Quins offence gave Walder a straightforward penalty.

Wasps 20 Quins 11

As the first half drew to a close, Williams made a good break down the left, only to miss his man with his pass. Quins regathered and Jarvis almost slipped through but Wasps’ defence did its job and that was half time.

Two minutes into the second half Ugo missed his chance for a second as Jarvis so nearly put him in. Amazingly given Wasps’ dominance of the game, if Quins had taken all their chances up to this stage they would have been in front. However any scent of an upset still lingering went within a couple of minutes. To the great joy of the home crowd, their old favourite Volley was carded. Wasps fans said he is no stranger to the Adams park bin so he knew his way off the pitch. Walder put the kick over.

Wasps 23 Quins 11

And straight away they made the extra man count putting Sackey away down the right for a simple try. Walder added the extras again. The game was as good as over now. With half an hour still to go the question was simply, how many are they going to score?

Wasps 30 Quins 11

Easter came on for Keogh who went to the blood bin and the gaps in the backline were starting to show. Walder made a big break through the middle and Voyce in support looked set for a try but Quins’ defence somehow scrambled to stop him. On 57 minutes McGeechan brought Shaw, Ibanez and Walder off. “Job already done”, seemed the message. Alex King came on at fly-half, showing the extra playing resources they have, along with Ward and Rees.

Almost immediately Wasps spurned another try. Then Volley returned, Keogh came back from the blood bin and Ollie Kohn replaced Evans. The merry-go-round continued as Easter came on fully for Vos but now Luscombe got the yellow card. It seemed a little harsh and the referee certainly seemed to be playing to the home gallery. It was not as if Wasps needed the help.

Duffy then came on for Keogh but with the extra man Wasps again knocked on with another try seemingly certain. Was that the fourth or fifth one they had coughed up? It was getting tricky to keep a count.

A minute later they did score. The ball seemed certain to go into touch but a ridiculously kind bounce gave Sackey a simple run in under the posts and King converted.

Wasps 37 Quins 11

Wasps took their skipper Hart off and Danny Care came on for So’oialo. Shortly afterwards Easter picked off an interception and pinned his ears back for a race to the line. Realising the cover tacklers were right on him, he veered away from the posts and just for a second it seemed he was headed straight for the pie shop in the corner of ground. With three men on him he had just enough in the tank to get over the line but from wide out Jarvis missed again, not that it was making much difference by now.

Wasps 37 Quins 16

Another odd piece of refereeing happened when he appeared to signal a free ball and then immediately pinged a Quin for handling it. Luscombe came back from the bin but even back to full strength they couldn’t stop another run in for Wasps. This time prop Peter Bracken made a huge celebration in scoring. Judging by the roar from the crowd, he doesn’t get too many opportunities. King missed a simple conversion. Was he starting to feel sorry for the visitors?

Wasps 42 Quins 16

If so, then maybe Voyce was too, for at this point he was guilty of their worst try miss ­– choosing to ignore a four-man overlap. Then at the death Duffy and Jarvis set Monye up to put through a trademark chip and chase. It looked certain to be his try but he was beaten to the ball by Luscombe who went in under the posts to make the kick easy for Jarvis.

Final score: Wasps 42 Quins 23