Mission accomplished for Wasps but where they were expected to swagger, Dai Young’s side spluttered their way to the bonus-point victory that rubber stamps their place in the knockout stages. The scoreline may suggest this six-try triumph, which books a quarter-final away to Leinster, was achieved with plenty of room to spare but that does not do Zebre justice nor explain the error-strewn nature of Wasps’ performance.
That they are away to Leinster, despite winning the pool, owes much to their controversial defeat last month by Connacht, whose late and decisive try should not have counted. Those lost points and results earlier in the weekend meant qualification as the fifth-ranked side and therefore an away quarter-final was the most Wasps could hope for. That they achieved but the trip to Dublin will still rankle for last season’s semi-finalists.
Wasps had been widely expected to take maximum points in Parma but after half an hour, Zebre led by 10 points and but for two untimely if undoubtedly deserved yellow cards, their losing streak of 17 matches in the competition may have come under threat. That may be pushing things a little – Wasps displayed a ruthlessness in patches that Zebre simply cannot – but the visitors scored their first five tries when their hosts were down to 14 men, only Nathan Hughes’ late try coming when there was numerical parity.
Wasps also momentarily found themselves slipping to third place in the virtual table but their victory – coupled with Connacht’s gallant failure to earn a losing bonus point at Toulouse – sends Young’s side through as pool winners along with the four-times champions from southern France, who will face Munster away.
“I think they were always going to try and cause an upset. It was about us today,” Young, the Wasps director of rugby, told BT Sport. “We needed to be accurate and on the top of our game early doors and we weren’t. We didn’t really respect the situation. We’ve caused ourselves lots of problems and we had to dig deep.”
After a week’s buildup in which avoiding complacency was the unwavering message, it was a dreadful start from Wasps. Carlo Canna continues to demonstrate the poise that Italy have for so long lacked at fly-half and his calm authority, Zebre’s commitment and Wasps’ rank sluggishness would have given Young a considerable scare.
Zebre’s principal ambition was to avoid conceding the early try that has so often put them on the back foot with the opening whistle still ringing in their ears. In truth, Wasps came nowhere near. Canna was on target from the tee when Wasps infringed at the scrum with the first points and it was no less than Zebre deserved when Mattia Bellini finished off a fine move, darting to the line with conviction as Kurtley Beale and Danny Cipriani dithered. Canna converted for a 10-0 lead.
Cipriani replied with a penalty almost immediately but Canna soon followed suit after a second scrum penalty. There have been only two victories in 42 attempts by Italian teams in the last five editions of the tournament and increasingly the country’s guaranteed place in the competition is being questioned but Zebre must take huge credit for making Wasps look so off-colour in the first half.
Their problems started, however, when their hooker Oliviero Fabiani, only just back in the side after a nine-week ban for biting, was sent to the sin bin for a mindless dangerous tackle on Simon McIntyre on the 30-minute mark. Wasps opted for a scrum and Ashley Johnson barged his way over.
Cipriani missed the conversion but ghosted through the Zebre defence with half-time looming and the home side tiring, this time adding the extras.
There was still time for Elliot Daly, on his 150th appearance for Wasps, to add the third try in the left-hand corner after sharp interplay from Cipriani and Christian Wade – a score that owed as much to Zebre’s fatigue as it did the visitors’ skill.
Wasps were at least less error prone at the start of the second half but Zebre were just as resolute. Cipriani did his best to prise open the defence but had little joy until Derick Minnie was shown a yellow card for persistent infringement at the maul. Cipriani booted the penalty to the corner and Johnson had his second of the game and the bonus-point try after another rolling maul.
Wade was next over with try No5, receiving the ball on the right wing and producing some outrageous footwork to run clear on the right. As the match became increasingly disjointed, Kurt Baker finished off the hosts’ second try down the left before Josh Bassett, impressive off the bench for Wasps, had one disallowed. He was integral to Hughes’s late try though, as was Daly, but the replacement Federico Ruzza gave Zebre the final word they deserved late on.
Zebre: Baker; Greeff, Bellini, Boni (Engelbrecht, 71), Palazzani; Canna (capt; Bordoli, 73), Violi; Lovotti (Postiglioni, 69), Fabiani (D’Apice, 60), Chistolini (Ceccarelli, 49), Furno (Ruzza, 71), Biagi (Koegelenberg, 66), Mbanda (Van Schalkywk, 36), Meyer, Minnie.
Tries: Bellini, Baker, Ruzza. Cons: Canna 2, Violi. Pens: Canna, Violi. Sin-bin: Fabiani 30.
Wasps: Beale; Wade (Bassett, 70), Daly, Eastmond, Halai; Cipriani, Robson (Hampson, 64); McIntyre (Mullan, 58), Taylor, Moore (Swainston, 58), Launchbury (capt; Gaskell, 60), Symons, Johnson, Haskell (Young, 58), Thompson (Hughes, 23).
Tries: Johnson 2, Cipriani, Daly, Wade, Hughes. Cons: Cipriani 4. Pens: Cipriani.
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ire)
