Redemption for Freddie Burns, relief for Bath. A run of only one win in 12 matches came to an end thanks to this hard-fought victory with Burns the standout performer after scoring his first try since his desperate mistake against Toulouse and all the flak that followed.
There can be no doubting Burns relished his moment – producing a lovely show and go before running unopposed to the left corner and sliding over – but it was his all-round performance that steered the visitors to this much-needed win which lifts them to sixth in the table. “I was just happy I put the ball down to be honest,” said Burns, in reference to his costly failure to score with the try-line beckoning in October.
Burns finished with 19 points – Will Chudley scored Bath’s other try – and perhaps nowhere was the difference between these two sides felt more than at halfback. For Wasps, Craig Hampson and Billy Searle struggled badly and while Dan Robson added some zip on his comeback from injury off the bench, it was not enough to stop Wasps extending their run to one win in 12. It is an anomaly that they remain fourth in the table but they are undoubtedly headed south. “Obviously the buck starts and ends with me. It’s my responsibility to turn this around,” said the Wasps director of rugby, Dai Young. ”We’ve dug ourselves into a hole and it’s only us who can dig us out of it. I thought we let the supporters down – and I said that to the players.”
This was the second-highest regular attendance in Premiership history with almost 32,000 in attendance for what was billed as a Christmas Cracker, but for Wasps supporters there was little seasonal cheer. Their injury list seems to be easing somewhat – Robson will benefit from this cameo as will Nathan Hughes, who also came off the bench – but Kieran Brookes looks set to be sidelined for a while after sustaining an ankle injury. Of more concern for Young should be the form of Lima Sopoaga who has failed to live up to his billing since his arrival. It took Willie le Roux a long time to adjust to life at Wasps but how Young could with his All Black fly-half – a replacement here – to bring the kind of control provided by Burns.
Young heralded last week’s European defeat by Toulouse as Wasps’ best attacking performance of the season and it must be said in the first opening 10 minutes they continued in that vein. With Elliot Daly at the fore Wasps went close on both wings – Ross Neal the closest on the right – but they had only Searle’s early penalty to show for their efforts.
They were then given due warning when Semesa Rokoduguni spotted a gap and darted straight through it; while Thomas Young made the turnover, Burns soon levelled at 3-3 with his first penalty. Bath immediately gave Searle the chance to restore Wasps’ lead but the home side’s discipline allowed the visitors to seize the initiative. Burns again pulled Bath level from the tee before striking with his cathartic score on the left.
Quick guide
Newcastle 17 Gloucester 20
Gloucester hung on to third place with a hard-fought 20-17 win over Newcastle at Kingston Park. In front of their biggest crowd of the season – 9,024 – the Falcons came back from 10-6 down at half-time to lead 17-10 heading into the final quarter.
However, a close-range try from England No 8 Ben Morgan converted by Billy Twelvetrees (pictured) levelled the scores, and then with seven minutes to go Twelvetrees slotted over the match-winning penalty to keep Gloucester in the hunt for a play-off spot.
The visitors led by four points at the interval thanks to a try from captain Ed Slater, which came after a controversial penalty awarded by referee Karl Dickson following a mass brawl just before half-time. PA
Another came soon after the restart, again from a scrum, allowing Burns to put Bath nine points to the good again and when Chudley sniped to squeeze the ball against the base of the post on 53 minutes it was hard to see any way back for Wasps. Young turned to his bench and got the response he wanted with Thomas Young going over in the corner off the back of a driving maul.
Wasps had time on their side but for all their huff and puff they could not even add the penalty that would have brought the losing bonus point. It is hard to argue they deserved that – Burns having the final word by kicking the ball dead with the clock red. “[Freddie’s] resilient, I can assure you of that,” said the Bath director of rugby, Todd Blackadder.
“We’ve been patchy and we haven’t always made it easy for Freddie, but Freddie had his best game today. I was really pleased for him and there was that little sense of relief to see him slide over.”