Wasps’ giddy ascent juddered to a halt as Gloucester scraped a victory that should have been less precarious than it was but was still notable given how Wasps have been treating everyone else in the Premiership.
Billy Twelvetreees and Bill Meakes led the fine defensive effort that blunted the Wasps rapier. Gloucester’s try by the outstanding Richard Hibbard, prosaic in comparison with Christian Wade’s for Wasps, was the very least they deserved.
Gloucester had so much of the first half, both in possession and territory, that to reach the interval with an advantage of only seven points could be accounted a significant – and potentially dangerous – failure given the firepower at Wasps’ command.
On the other hand, the Premiership’s team of the moment had a look about them, probably based on how they have swept everyone else aside lately, that it would simply happen when they chose. For 40 minutes at any rate, it did not.
Gloucester, the forwards as well as Twelvetrees and Meakes, did a fine job in closing down Wasps’ brilliant counter-attackers. For the time being Wade had no space, nor did the Piutau brothers and Frank Halai, the imports from New Zealand who have made Wasps such menacing counter-attackers.
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Instead it was Gloucester who made the single first-half breakthrough, coming from the series of attacking opportunities that were so laboured in their execution it was a wonder that any of them brought the desired result.
In being Gloucester’s most penetrative runner, it was appropriate that Charlie Sharples made the initial thrust. But it then needed multi-phases – Matt Kvesic and Meakes helping keep the whole thing going – before Hibbard finally made the line.
Greig Laidlaw’s conversion followed an earlier penalty and preceded a bad miss just before half-time. By then Jimmy Gopperth had pulled back a penalty for Wasps from virtually their only incursion deep enough into Gloucester’s half to have any sort of scoring chance.
Sure enough, the second half had hardly begun when Wasps at last freed Wade and Gloucester’s previous wastefulness was exposed. When he received from Charles Piutau he was in the Wasps half but distance was no object as the trail of failed tacklers showed.
Gopperth’s conversion of Wade’s exceptional try levelled the scores. In view of their recent all-conquering form, Wasps might have been expected to push on from here. Instead, they became stuck in a second-half rut not unlike the one they got themselves into in the first.
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Laidlaw’s second penalty put Gloucester back in front and, though the Scotland captain missed another from long range, it turned out, with that kick, he had done enough to ensure they survived a late missed Gopperth drop-shot.
Star man: Richard Hibbard (Gloucester)
Scorers:
Gloucester: Tries: Hibbard 18 Con: Laidlaw Pens: Laidlaw (2)
Wasps: Tries: Wade 43 Con: Gopperth Pen: Gopperth
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Glouceste r: Cook (Burns 6 min; Braley 66min); Sharples, Meakes, Twelvetrees, Purdy (Trinder 20miun); Hook, Laidlaw (capt); McAllister (Thomas 32min), Hibbard (Dawidiuk 66min), Afoa (Doran-Jones 68min), Savage (Galarza 63min), Thrush, Kalamafoni, Kvesic, Moriarty (Ludlow 63min)
Wasps: Miller; Wade, C Piutau, S Piutau, Halai; Gopperth, Robson; Mullan (capt; McIntyre 63min), Shervington (Johnson 57min), Cooper-Woolley (Cittadini 57min), Cannon (Davies 52min) Myall, Jones, Smith, Hughes (Rider 70min)
Referee: L Pearce (RFU)
Attendance: 13,706