Sunday, December 14, 2008

Wasps 19-11 Edinburgh

Phil Vickery holds off Edinburgh's Mike Blair
Wasps struggled to impress against Edinburgh

Wasps (7) 19
Try: Walder
Pens: Walder (4)
Cons: Walder

Edinburgh (8) 11
Try: Southwell
Pens: Godman, D Blair

Dave Walder scored all of Wasps' points as they produced a laboured display to beat Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup.

Walder started and finished the move for the first try before Hugo Southwell went over for the visitors.

Phil Godman's penalty on half-time gave Edinburgh a deserved lead but Walder kicked Wasps back in front after the restart and stretched their advantage.

Danny Cipriani showed some nice touches when he came on but overall it was a disappointing display by the home side.

Wasps began brightly and Walder was involved early in the build-up to his try before finishing it off.

Serge Betsen and Josh Lewsey pushed Edinburgh onto the back foot before Eoin Reddan's pass from the ruck found Walder, who spotted an opening in the defensive line and ran in to score.

Edinburgh had rarely threatened until they scored their first try, Southwell applying the finishing touch in the right-hand corner after Ben Cairns's perfectly-judged angled run ripped the Wasps defence open.

Only desperate defending denied Simon Webster another Edinburgh try after he just lost out in a foot race chasing Mike Blair's opportunistic kick into the corner.

But when Godman landed a penalty after Tom Rees's foul, it gave Edinburgh a deserved half-time lead.

The boot of Walder ensured that lead was short-lived, and although Cipriani's second-half introduction gave Wasps fans something to cheer, the overall standard of their display did not.

Their backs looked nervous and struggled to put together many flowing periods of play.

The kicking of the ever-reliable Walder kept Wasps beyond Edinburgh's grasp and when David Blair missed a penalty for Edinburgh with four minutes to go, the home side knew they were safe.


Wasps head coach Shaun Edwards:

"If we could have got the bonus point it would have been much better but at this time of year I don't think there are many bonus points around in the Heineken Cup with the weather we have had.

"Against a very dogged Edinburgh team we are just delighted to get the victory.

"We just need some wins under our belts to gather some confidence. Once we get to the big games we would like to think we could up our performance level."


Wasps: van Gisbergen, Sackey, Waldouck, Lewsey, Voyce, Walder, Reddan, Payne, Webber, Vickery, Shaw, Birkett, Betsen, Rees, Haskell.

Replacements: Mitchell for van Gisbergen (35), Cipriani for Waldouck (41), Skivington for Birkett (55), Worsley for Betsen (62). Not Used: Varley, French, Simpson.

Edinburgh: Southwell, Robertson, Cairns, De Luca, Webster, Godman, M. Blair, Jacobsen, Kelly, G. Cross, C. Hamilton, J. Hamilton, Newlands, MacDonald, Hogg.

Replacements: Houston for De Luca (76), D. Blair for Godman (54), Laidlaw for M. Blair (74), Kerr for G. Cross (52), Mustchin for Hogg (59). Not Used: Lawrie, S. Cross.

Att: 7,596

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