There is still the matter of adjusting to the relocation of a London club from Sudbury to Coventry via Queens Park Rangers and High Wycombe but the Ricoh Arena is fast becoming a destination of choice. This was Champions Cup rugby at its very best, in front of a bumper crowd of more than 23,000, all perplexed, as only knowledgable rugby crowds can be, by the referee, Jérôme Garcès (who had a very good game), and at the same time enthralled by a swaying, pulsating encounter.
The draw put Leinster through to the quarter-finals, with Wasps joining them after Toulouse lost to Montpellier on Sunday. Wasps came close to stealing the game when Andy Goode prepared himself like the massively experienced conductor he is for the winning drop goal, only to see it sail wide. This made the ending every bit as dramatic as the beginning. Ashley Johnson, who somehow manages to exude real menace from within an angelic profusion of crazy hair, chased the kick-off, took out Dave Kearney in mid-air and was dispatched to the sin-bin. It is not often a player can take a 10-minute breather after four seconds of activity.
The back-row had to watch Leinster at their imperious best, playing for 40 minutes with a slickness and power that elevated them to the level of the very best in Europe this season. The time limitation is important because Leinster were not the same in the second half, partly because of Wasps’ powers of recovery and partly through injury. Jamie Heaslip was towering for an hour but has a long-term niggling shoulder problem. Eoin Reddan went off with knee ligament damage and Kearney’s shoulder never recovered from its early contact with Johnson and the wing was off within five minutes. The wounded may be good for the European quarter-final in April but Ireland’s Six Nations may start without them.
Leinster’s set piece and their work at the breakdown were reassurance itself while in loose play Jordi Murphy positively flew round the park. Ian Madigan had a wobbly day with his kicking, successful with only three from seven, but he played with strength and invention at inside-centre, as did Rob Kearney from full-back.
The reward in this golden first half was a pair of converted tries, by Fergus McFadden and Isaac Boss, and a brace of penalties, one by Jimmy Gopperth who next season will be playing for Wasps. He seemed to like the Ricoh.
Wasps stayed in touch with a couple of long penalties by Goode but they were struggling, especially when Lorenzo Cittadini became the second forward sent to the sin-bin for not releasing a player at the breakdown. It seemed they were down and out, trailing 6-20 at the interval.
Their second-half performance could not have been more contrasting. The forwards, led indomitably by James Haskell, were a different unit altogether. Matt Mullan and Nathan Hughes both ran with brute power and deserved their tries. The second, converted by Goode, levelled the scores with 11 minutes to go.
Leinster were the strugglers now. Kane Douglas had been sent to the sin-bin and their smoothness was being thoroughly roughened. Kicks and passes were wayward, where once they had been precise. They had an effort by McFadden disallowed for crossing but so did Tom Varndell a minute later at the other end. Wasps were much more in control at the end and Goode was in the perfect position for the winning drop goal. It missed and the memorable comeback did not have its ultimate finishing touch. That would have been to spoil the Ricoh in these early days of its life as a rugby hotspot.
Wasps Miller (Masi, 60); Wade, Daly, Jacobs (Lozowski, 76), Varndell; Goode, Simpson; Mullan (McIntyre, 72), Shervington (Festuccia, 57), Cittadini (Cooper-Woolley, 48), Davies, Gaskell (Myall, 57) Johnson, Haskell (capt), Hughes.
Tries Mullan, Hughes. Con Goode 2. Pens Goode 2.
Leinster R Kearney; McFadden, Fitzgerald, Madigan, D Kearney (Fanning, 5); Gopperth, Reddan (Boss, 26); Bent, Cronin (Strauss, 62), Moore (Furlong, 62), Toner, Douglas (McCarthy, 71), Ryan, Murphy, Heaslip (capt; Conan, 64).
Tries McFadden, Boss. Cons Madigan 2. Pens Madigan, Gopperth.
Referee J Garcès (Fr). Attendance 23,493.
