This was a tough day at the office, almost from the get go, as 1871 fell into the trap of trying to compete with Wasps at the heavier end of the scale, instead of playing smart in an expansive game and letting the ball do the work.

The game started well with good handling from 1871, getting the better of the Wasps players, who had their traditional heavy ball carriers, but not so athletic skills, even though their 10 tried to put the ball in the right areas. 1871 were able to often move the ball away and make good gains, but repeatedly coughed up mid or final play which inevitable played into the Wasps hands. Wasps were strong, as expected, in the set-piece scrum and they had a good lineout and it took a while for 1871 to get a good grasp of this before the dominance changed in 1871’s favour. It was set to be a good battle. Abdou Traore scored the only 1871 points of the day at 8 minutes, from a scrum win, some quick phases, a hard carry by Eddie Beck and a crash over. It then took 19 minutes for another score, which came from Wasps, who stole an 1871 lineout and crashed over, through poor 1871 tackling. These were the only scores of the half which left the game wide open to be won, by either side.

The second half was taken by Wasps, who scored early at 2 minutes, after winning a lineout, moving the ball out and in their traditional style crashing over. They converted the try and their energy was raised. For the remainder of the half, Wasps pretty much camped in the 1871 half bashing their way forwards with big ball carrier after big ball carrier, forcing 1871 to defend and giving no respite when the ball was exited from the 22. The Wasps bench came on and they completely dominated the scrums, something that they were not able to do in the first half. Despite this 1871 repeatedly forced Wasps back with valiant tackle after tackle and numerous attempts to obtain some breathing space, but on each occasion, it was denied them by Wasps. At 28 minutes, after a another dominant shove in the scrum, Wasps put some quick pick and go phases together and eventually crashed over to score. There were a couple of great efforts by 1871 to run the ball out of the 22, which as expected stretched Wasps all across the pitch, but once again the last third went awry and Wasps again took the upper hand, by keeping the ball tight.

Clever play by Wasps in sticking to what they are comfortable and strong at and for bringing on their bench when they did. Unfortunate for 1871 in not managing to stick to their own game plan and move the ball as much as they should.

Tough learning, but that’s the beauty of the sport. Every day is a school day.

Outstanding defensive efforts from Abdou Traore, David Niven, Freddy Woolner, Eddie Beck and Afzaal Mir.

Scorers

Tries: Abdou Traore