Times match report

[Heathen]

Wasps edge past Edinburgh thanks to late Barbeary try

Edinburgh 30 Wasps 34

Wasps march on to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, but they were taken to the wire by an Edinburgh side who we pushing hard for a winning score right to the end. For the Scots it was a heartbreaking loss, but Wasps’ physical power always promised to be the decisive factor.

And so it proved when they had to come from behind in the last five minutes, thrusting Alfie Barbeary over for the winning try from a lineout in the left corner. It was a savage blow for Edinburgh, but it would be hard to argue that Wasps did not deserve their win — or that Barbeary did not deserve the Man of the Match award he was handed afterwards. The 21- year-old is making a habit of delivering huge performances on the European stage.

Edinburgh had led 17-10 at half-time thanks chiefly to tries by Ben Vellacott and Adam McBurney. But far more impressive than anything they did in the Wasps’ half were the three epic defensive stands they put up deep in their territory in the final minutes of that period.

Time and again Wasps tried to use their physical advantage, especially in the scrum, to beat a path to the Edinburgh line. But the Scottish side repeatedly held them out. As the penalty count against Edinburgh mounted though there was clear concern that a yellow card would soon be shown, but they girded themselves, replaced their struggling loose head Harrison Courtney with Pierre Schoeman and took no damage on the scoreboard during that period.

The try by Vellacott, a Wasps player last year, was a peach. It came in the 12th minute and had its roots in an ambitious break from deep by Damien Hoyland and Chris Dean. Luke Crosbie and McBurney kept the move going and Emiliano Boffelli fed the ball inside for scrum half Vellacott to score.

Jimmy Gopperth, who had an early penalty for Wasps, added a try and a conversion four minutes later. By now, Wasps’ forward power was starting to look like the decisive factor in terms of where the game was being played, but Edinburgh broke out again, won a lineout in the right corner and drove hard to put McBurney over. Boffelli, who had also contributed a penalty in the tenth minute, converted both of Edinburgh’s first-half tries.

Edinburgh extended their lead to ten points with a second Boffelli penalty early in the second half. But it was short-lived. By the 50th minute Wasps were level again, courtesy of a try by the massive Biyi Alo, who blasted over from a short penalty move, and a penalty and conversion by Gopperth.

Edinburgh continued to test the patience of Pierre Brousset, the French referee, and it was a wonder they kept 15 men on the pitch in the third quarter. But they got their punishment ion the scoreboard just before the hour was up when Tom West collected Wasps’ third try, with Gopperth adding the extras to put his side seven points clear.

Edinburgh struck back with a superbly worked lineout move that ended with Dean slipping the ball away for Magnus Bradbury to score between the posts. Boffelli added the conversion then hammered over a long-range penalty to put Edinburgh three points ahead with seven minutes left.

But Wasps came again, winning another series of penalties in Edinburgh’s half. Bousset finally reached into his pocket and sent Connor Boyle, the Edinburgh flanker, to the sin-bin. Wasps scented blood and went for the kill, claiming the lineout in the left corner which gave Barbeary the platform he needed.

Star man Alfie Barbeary (Wasps).

Scorers:

Edinburgh: Tries Vellacott (12), McBurney (25), Bradbury (66). Cons Boffelli 3. Pens Boffelli (10, 43, 73).

Wasps: Tries Gopperth (16), Alo (44), West (58), Barbeary (76). Cons Gopperth 4. Pens Gopperth (7, 50).

Edinburgh:

J Van der Walt; D Hoyland (J Blain 74min), M Bennett, C Dean, E Boffelli; B Kinghorn, B Vellacott (H Pyrgos 62min); H Courtney (P Schoeman 36min), A McBurney (P Harrison 78min), WP Nel (L-R Atalifo 59min), J Hodgson (P Phillips 59min), G Gilchrist (captain), L Crosbie, C Boyle (sin-bin 73), M Bradbury (M Kunavula 77min).

Wasps:

Z Kibirige (J Umaga 50min); F Hougaard, S Spink, J Gopperth, J Bassett; C Atkinson, D Robson (W Porter 73min); T West, G Oghre (D Frost 74min), B Alo (E Millar-Mills 65min), J Launchbury (captain; J Gaskell 75-77min), E Stooke, B Shields, J Willis, A Barbeary.
Referee P Brousset (France).

Attendance 6,431.

[Rossm]

Thanks for posting.