So Leicester are beatable after all. Few would have predicted that an injury-ravaged Wasps would be the team to end the sequence but, at the 16th time of asking in all competitions, the rampant Tigers have finally been tamed. It was a deserved outcome, too, for a Wasps side who lacked 16 frontline players and had to display serious character to weather a concerted late siege on their own line.
While one result does not entirely level the Midlands playing field – Leicester remain eight points ahead at the top – it will do wonders for Wasps’ self-image after a horrendous run of luck that has deprived them of many of their biggest names. On this occasion, though, they steadfastly refused to bow to the seemingly inevitable in the final quarter after three second-half penalties from Jimmy Gopperth had put them ahead with 11 minutes of an absorbing contest remaining.
The Tigers have made a habit of edging close games this season but had no answer this time to Wasps’ never-say-die resilience characterised by the man of the match, Alfie Barbeary, and the replacement front-rowers Dan Frost, Zac Nearchou and Biyi Alo. Barbeary was a man possessed during the frantic finale, while Frost produced the all-important turnover in the shadow of his own posts after Leicester had closed to within one further collapsed scrum of a decisive penalty try.
Wasps’ director of rugby, Lee Blackett, called it “as good a win as we have had this season” and could barely contain his emotional pride afterwards. “To be under that much pressure and to come away with a win is really special. It was gritty, we had to scrap and we had to fight.”
Leicester’s fly-half George Ford, meanwhile, declined to grasp for excuses. “I don’t think we played anywhere near what we could but it just shows the Premiership is such a tough competition. If you’re not quite on it on the day, you’re going to lose.”
His head coach, Steve Borthwick, acknowledged Wasps’ third-quarter impetus had been crucial in transforming a contest that, until then, had seemed likely to yield a club record‑equalling 16th successive Leicester win. He also diplomatically swerved an incident shortly before half‑time when Leicester’s frustrated captain, Ellis Genge, lashed out at Francois Hougaard’s face and yanked the South African’s hair. The England prop, on his 100th Leicester appearance and watched by three of England’s assistant coaches, was shown a yellow card but will be hoping the citing officer does not take an interest with the Six Nations starting in less than four weeks’ time.
On this evidence, either way, there is very little wrong with Wasps’ spirit, despite weekend reports suggesting three of their Kiwi mainstays – Vaea Fifita, Malakai Fekitoa and potentially Gopperth – will be leaving this summer. They clearly felt this was a day to make a statement about the perceived Midlands pecking order, despite losing Fifita and Tom West on the eve of the game through illness which necessitated a further pack reshuffle.
The Tigers should have been licking their lips, but Wasps had a penalty try on the board inside four minutes when Tommy Reffell was also sent to the sin-bin for taking out Elliott Stooke close to the line. Leicester were also frustrated when a potential try for Jack van Poortvliet, following some neat approach work from Harry Potter and a weak tackle by Hougaard, was ruled out for obstruction.
Ford, though, kept his side in touch with a couple of penalties and a timely ruck turnover courtesy of the evergreen Dan Cole kept the visitors’ line intact when Wasps seemed certain to score. Up the other end marched the Tigers and, seven minutes before the interval, the Argentina hooker Julián Montoya managed to satisfy the referee, Tom Foley, that he had grounded the ball beneath a heap of bodies.
Having conceded 11 penalties in the first half alone, Wasps were also initially guilty of turning the ball over too often, nullifying the bulldozing efforts of the exuberant Barbeary. The latter has been encouraged to switch from hooker to No 8 by Eddie Jones but wore 6 here, as if to emphasise that his obvious ball-in-hand strength makes numbers irrelevant.
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The 38-year-old Gopperth, ironically wanted by Leicester, was another key figure, expertly hammering in the nails with three well-struck second-half penalties to hoist Wasps up to eighth and lift the prevailing mood. The club’s aggregate year-end financial losses since moving to Coventry are now almost £50m but, when it comes to boosting collective morale, days such as this are absolutely priceless.