London Wasps have much for which to thank the Italians. Two of their most notable players in recent times, Lawrence Dallaglio and Danny Cipriani, hail from Italian stock, even though Cipriani is unsure of his precise family links, and last night Roma provided obliging opposition in the Amlin Challenge Cup.
Wasps did not have it all their own way, but they scored eight tries, five in the first half, securing a bonus-point victory that stretched their lead at the top of pool four to ten points.
They were far from clinical, but they had more than enough firepower against meagre opposition, with Tom Varndell and Daniel Leo scoring two tries apiece. Paul Sackey scored the pick of the tries before he came off second-best in a clash of heads with Hayden Reid, his opposing wing. “His cheek is sore and we may need to scan it,” Tony Hanks, the Wasps director of rugby, said.
Otherwise, the main difficulties for Wasps were provided by greasy conditions. Steve Kefu, the former Australia centre, had a miserable first half, dropping the ball with the line at his mercy in the third minute.
But Wasps soon made amends, Varndell scoring the first try when he wriggled past a series of limp challenges to cross under the posts. Although Roma defended meekly at times, they relished any opportunity to attack and drew level when Giulio Toniolatti, the scrum half, took a tap penalty on the Wasps 22-metre line and gave Juan Gauthier a scoring pass.
Advertisement
Wasps’ scrum has been struggling in recent weeks, but a solid set-piece on in the 25th minute allowed the ball to squirt out of the back of the scrum, providing a simple score for Leo.
The most potent attacking forces for Wasps were Mark van Gisbergen and James Honeyben. In the 29th minute, Van Gisbergen counter-attacked, the ball was transferred swiftly to Sackey, who hared 25 metres in precious little space to score in the corner.
Wasps led 33-13 at half-time but it took them almost half an hour to score again in the second half. Cipriani threw a long pass and Van Gisbergen handed on to Varndell, who scooped the ball up with his left hand to score in the corner. Leo and Dominic Waldouck completed the rout.
Scorers: London Wasps: Tries: Varndell 2 (8min, 69), Baker (15), Leo 2 (21, 80+1), Sackey (29), Skivington (40), Waldouck (80+4). Conversions: Cipriani 5. Penalty goals: Cipriani (34). Roma: Try: Gauthier (11). Conversion: Freschi. Penalty goals: Freschi 3 (19, 35, 43).
Scoring sequence (London Wasps first): 7-0, 7-7, 12-7, 12-10, 19- 10, 26-10, 26-13, 33-13 (half-time), 33-16, 38-16, 45-16, 50-16.
Advertisement
London Wasps: M van Gisbergen; P Sackey (rep: B Jacobs, 52), L Mitchell, S Kefu (rep: D Waldouck, 65), T Varndell; D Cipriani, J Honeyben (rep: M Robinson, 77); M Rice (rep: G Bocca, 67), J Ward, R Baker, M Veale, G Skivington (rep: J Hart, 61), D Leo, S Betsen, H Ellis (rep: W Matthews, 61).
Roma: P Buso (sin-bin, 20-32; rep A Skeen 80+3); D Varani, J Gauthier, P Valcastelli, H Reid (rep:C Vannini 74); M Freschi, G Toniolatti; N De Gregori (rep: A V Donati, 64), T D’Apice, T Paoletti, E German, A Pegoretti (rep: M Aldridge, 64), A Boscolo, F Giusti (rep: L Persico, 59), A Saccardo.
Referee: A Macpherson (Scotland). Attendance: 5,840.