It was every bit as tight as last season’s Premiership final between these teams when the Chiefs triumphed in added time, and yesterday Wasps had to dig deep to avenge that defeat. But victory on a chilly afternoon near Coventry came at a cost.
Wasps have had some horrendous luck with injuries this season and their dressing room continues to look like a casualty ward. Danny Cipriani, who is leaving the club at the end of the season, lasted only 10 minutes of the second half after damaging an achilles but the most worrying sight was that of their back-row forward Alex Rieder being carried off on a stretcher with a horrible knee injury that will end his season.
Marcus Watson and Jack Willis were also injured and Dai Young, the Wasps director of rugby, admitted: “The injuries put a dampener on the win and Alex’s was particularly nasty as he’s worked his socks off to come back and is really a character.
“After our Champions Cup game at Harlequins, when we really let ourselves down, we made an agreement that it wouldn’t happen again. There are games when you have to roll up your sleeves and this was one of them. We handled the physicality of this Exeter side well. It was a really disciplined performance and I’m proud of the way we played today.”
England’s champions, though, have lost three successive Premiership games. They were knocked off the top of the division by Saracens on Friday and they made too many mistakes against a side who were sharper in thought and deed. Some of Wasps’ defending, particularly in the first half, was stupendous and Young’s son Thomas was outstanding in their back row.
Cipriani showed how much he will be missed next season and his half‑back partner, Dan Robson, gave Eddie Jones yet another reminder of his talents. There was also a more cheery medical bulletin about Elliot Daly, who is recovering from a calf injury and is likely to be fit to face London Irish here on Sunday week and perhaps in contention for an England return in Paris next month.
The first of two tries was mired in controversy. Exeter had the put-in at a scrum that wheeled and lost possession but the Wasps No 8 Guy Thompson appeared to knock the ball on before Willie le Roux gave Watson the chance to squeeze over in the corner. The TV match official Sean Davey then drew the referee JP Doyle’s attention to a tip-tackle by Jonny Hill on Le Roux and the lock was sent to the sin-bin.
The TMO was busy again 10 minutes later when Davey ruled that Jimmy Gopperth’s pass to Josh Bassett was forward before the wing dived over in the other corner. Exeter, though, were rattled but when their big ball-carrying forwards time and again took them into the Wasps 22, the home defence was unyielding, with Cipriani and Robson making try-saving tackles.
After the interval Cipriani limped off and Willis followed him, the young flanker holding his painful right arm. But Wasps continued to prosper with Gopperth stretching their lead to 10 points with an easy penalty.
Wasps’ injuries continued to build up along with the points, though. Watson hobbled off and Rieder, a replacement for Willis, then injured a knee in a tackle on the Chiefs scrum-half Will Chudley. It was terrible luck for the back-rower. The seven minutes he was on the field was his first action since September.
The long injury break took some of the sting from Wasps. They were reduced to 14 men when Ashley Johnson, who had just replaced Rieder, was shown a yellow card for piling into a ruck. And when Exeter won a lineout deep into the home 22, Sam Skinner grabbed the opportunity and a rolling maul helped Luke Cowan-Dickie burrow over.
Gopperth seized the chance to kick a 40-metre penalty with three minutes left and Wasps were home and dry. Rob Baxter, the Chiefs director of rugby, is refusing to panic. “Last week against Worcester we were not at the level we needed to be. Today the foundations were there but we were not clinical enough. And you have to give Wasps credit for how they defended.”
