Wasps sealed a place in the European Champions Cup in this frantic end-of-season contest with London Irish, stuck down in 10th position in the Premiership table, playing a huge part.
Irish had nothing but pride at stake yet led 25-18 two minutes into the second half and surprised Wasps by their tenaciousdesire to end a campaign on a high.
Both teams enjoyed the lead in the last 10 minutes before the 10th and final try (both scored five each) from Andy Short, a substitute for Irish, levelled the match at 40-40. The wing neatly finishing off on the left wing after Shane Geraghty had produced a pinpoint cross-kick to cap another smooth display in the home midfield. Geraghty had a chance to snatch victory but he pushed his conversion wide from the left touchline.
Wasps looked relieved they had gained three points (two for the draw and one for scoring four or more tries) from their endeavours to secure the crucial sixth place safe.
Dai Young, the Wasps director of rugby, said Irish were the better team overall. “We were hanging on by our toenails.”
His team played their best rugby midway through the second half when they 33-35 . Sailosi Tagicakibau added second try to his first-half score against his former club alongside one from Rob Miller, a first‑half substitute. With Andy Goode, who joins Irish in the summer, in kicking form, Wasps looked to have finally subdued the home team. Yet Irish, spurred on by a non-stop desire to attack, reclaimed the lead through a try from James Short, who was later replaced by his namesake, and a penalty from halfway by Geraghty.
that was not enough for Irish. Wasps forced their way over for a fifth try from James Haskell to set up a finish after the home team pounced again when Geraghty’s cross-kick bounced Andy Short.
Geraghty’s contribution, despite that the miss of the difficult conversion, brought praise from Glenn Delaney, Irish’s head coach, who reckons that the centre could be an outside bet for England’s World Cup training squad to be announced on Wednesday.
“He’s on the radar,” Delaney said. “He’s had a great season. He’s attended England training camps during the Six Nations. Form is currency and in a World Cup year you want your best players. I know it’s a competitive position but they are talking about him.”
Knock-ons by both teams early on showed that it was going to be a fast and loose match. And by half-time the teams had notched up five tries between them to give the Madejski Stadium that end-of-term feel. Irish turned round 22-18 up to give Wasps jitters about that European qualification. They grabbed the initiative when Andrew Fenby raced clear off an attack which started after a quick throw at a line-out. Wasps replied through Guy Thompson who accepted Andy Goode’s well-timed pass to score under the posts.
The half continued to race along as both teams concentrated on attack which made the match very watchable, even if it left spectators dizzy by the end.
