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Premiership reaction - Sunday

Sunday 16th November 2008

Wasps Director of Rugby Ian McGeechan admitted his beleaguered Guinness Premiership champions missed the nine internationals who were absent for the 32-10 away defeat to London rivals Harlequins.

Wasps were without their stars because of international calls and were made to pay by Harlequins who left the visitors one point off the bottom of the table.

"It does make a difference with the experience that's there"
McGeechan admitted.

"We know we always have the biggest challenge when international rugby is on."

But McGeechan claimed his side should have done better against a Harlequins outfit whose victory took them up to second in the table.

"We missed too many tackles in the first half and had a mountain to climb after that.

"The players stuck at it and did better in the second half but we have to do it for 80 minutes.

"There were a lot of easy points given away - six penalties. We will look at what we are doing. at the moment. We aren't happy with some of the things."

Reflecting on Wasps' league position, he said: "No other team is going to help us. We have to make concentrate on what we are doing and make sure we are competitive and accurate, which we weren't in the first half."

His Harlequins counterpart Dean Richards, with five potential starters on international duty and half a dozen injured, had to make another change two hours before kick-off when winger Seb Stegmann dropped out with flu.

But the reshuffle in the backs resulted in match-winner Nick Evans switching to full-back from fly-half for his injury-delayed home debut.

The former All Black contributed 19 points and Wasps never recovered from his stunning first-half try.

But Richards said: "It wasn't just about him and his finishing. It was the quality of the rugby that led up to it.

"Our scrum dominated their their scrum which must have been disappointing for them.

"The brand of rugby we are playing at the moment gives you an idea of the feeling in the camp."

Richards said of the the absence of his own stars: "You always miss them but it's an opportunity for other people which some of these young guys have taken."

Meanwhile, Richard Hill claimed Bristol season's would have been "virtually dead" had they not ended a demoralising run of Guinness Premiership defeats.

The Bristol boss watched his team overcome a six-point deficit to pip Northampton 14-13 and claim their first league victory since March.

Bristol remain bottom of the table but are now just one point behind reigning champions Wasps.

Hill said: "The win will do us a lot of good, it will provide a spring in the step.

"If we had lost then the season was virtually dead. It would have been hard to come back from, but we are fighters in this type of situation.

"We just needed to get on the right side of the scoreline. It was probably a good old-fashioned Bristol win; we rolled up our sleeves and showed a lot of grit."

Second-half substitute Shaun Perry was at the heart of Bristol's victory push, making his first appearance since undergoing shoulder surgery in August.

The England international was a constant thorn in Northampton's side, and Hill added: "We've missed Shaun.

"He just lifts everyone around him and you could see the difference after he went on."

Replacement centre Luke Eves' 69th-minute try, converted by his midfield partner Ed Barnes, saw Bristol home, although Saints could have snatched it in injury-time, but fly-half Stephen Myler's drop-goal attempt drifted agonisingly wide.

Number eight Dan Ward-Smith scored a close-range try in the first half, which Adrian Jarvis converted, while centre James Downey touched down for Northampton, with Myler slotting two penalties and a conversion.

Saints rugby director Jim Mallinder said: "In the end, we had a defensive lapse, which was unfortunate.

"We seemed to get our numbers wrong and it was very disappointing to concede a try from first-phase possession.

"It is gutting. We knew it would be a tight game, and so it proved.

"At 13-7 ahead we knew the next score could be decisive but we didn't get it, even though we created a few chances.

"We have got to regroup now and be ready for next weekend's game against Bath."

Elsewhere, London Irish coach Toby Booth believes the 24-8 victory at Newcastle which propelled his side to third in the Guinness Premiership is vindication of a flexible selection policy.

Booth was without full-back Delon Armitage through England duty and also had to contend with the absence of powerful Pacific Islanders three-quarters Seilala Mapasua and Sailosi Tagicakibau and influential Irish lock Bob Casey.

Armitage's 23-year-old brother Steffon was also dropped, only to come on and score within two minutes of his arrival, his try coming between scores from flankers Richard Thorpe and Declan Danaher.

"There are no sacred cows at London Irish," Booth said. "Steffon was omitted because he's dipped a bit in form and I felt others warranted an inclusion after how they've performed.

"Gone are the days when there were automatic choices for us.

"It's a new thing having blocks of England players and other internationals away. We're in unfamiliar territory.

"But if a player comes to me at the end of a game and says 'I told you so', then I've probably got it right."

Booth also decided to switch the influential Shane Geraghty to inside-centre in order to accommodate captain Mike Catt at fly-half.

Catt was accurate with the boot and produced a number of telling breaks in the first half.

Booth added: "I'm a big believer that it's a 22-man game. I know that other coaches don't necessarily agree with that.

"I want everyone to know it's a conscious decision that everyone has a part to play at some point in the game.

"We play with a lot of width when appropriate and having two very good decision-makers at 10 and 12 is an Australian method we've adopted.

"It's like a boxer softening an opponent up. You work out your combination and then land the killer blow later."

Steve Bates, Newcastle director of rugby and a colleague of Booth's at England Saxons level, was left to reflect on a lengthening injury list.

The Falcons have now lost six out of seven matches in all competitions going into a crunch clash with Worcester on Friday.

Bates said: "We missed Carl Hayman today and that was a massive problem we could have done without.

"Ed Williamson's shoulder has been a bit sore and now he's twisted his ankle. Russell Winter has pulled his hamstring so we may well be forced into changes.

"That in itself is frustrating because along with Brent Wilson, they were two of our better performing forwards of late."

And finally, Gloucester head coach Dean Ryan admitted his side had taken a step into the unknown after defying an International Rugby Board ruling by naming Welsh scrum-half Gareth Cooper on the bench for the win at Saracens.

The IRB ruled Wales did not have to release Cooper for the game as it occurred inside the official international window.

The 29-year-old was rested for the 34-13 win over Canada but was due to return to the squad to face New Zealand next week after starting the autumn opener against South Africa.

But after seeing Anthony Allen, Olly Morgan and Lesley Vainikolo score tries to take Gloucester up to fifth, Ryan insisted he was ready for anything the Welsh Rugby Union had to throw at him.

"Everybody involved in this situation knew of our decision when we took it at noon today," said Ryan.

"That includes Premier Rugby and every other body who are involved, so everyone knew we were going ahead and naming Gareth on the bench for the game.

"All parties who are involved have now seen that we have included him on the bench and have seen what has been said, so what happens from here is for other people to decide.

"We've played very well today and I felt like we were back to the Gloucester of old.

"Olly Morgan has taken his try extremely well and Anthony Allen slotted straight back in.

"He is a player who knows the Gloucester way and we haven't played that way until today, even when we won, so I'm very happy to be back to that."

Allen, absent from the Gloucester side since injuring his ankle against Leicester on the opening day of the season, crossed to set Ryan's men on their way after 24 minutes.

Ryan Lamb and Glen Jackson exchanged kicks early on and although Ben Skirving pegged the visitors back, Morgan gave England manager Martin Johnson something to consider as he broke decisively to score 10 minutes after the break.

Vainikolo extended the advantage and although Eddie Jones' men hit back with a penalty try on 70 minutes to set up a grandstand finish, they could not prevent their first home league defeat of the season.

After seeing his side fail to capitalise on their scrum, Jones appealed to the officials for a more consistent approach to the game.

"The scrum is a difficult area of the game to manage," he said. "But today we dominated it without getting the reward we were due.

"I just feel that if people are penalised for persistent fouls in other areas of the game then the same should be true of the scrum.

"Ultimately it's about consistency and I didn't feel we get that at the moment with one of our strongest areas."

The Welsh Rugby Union issued a statement shortly after noon today reminding Gloucester they would be breaking IRB regulations by including Cooper in their squad.

Following the game, a WRU spokesperson said: "We are seeking to establish all the facts and once that is done we will consider all the material issues and act accordingly."