DIRECTOR of rugby Ian McGeechan was delighted to see Wasps return to form with a 25-11 Heineken Cup victory over Castres in Edinburgh's Pool 2 yesterday.
Wasps came into the game on the back of five defeats from six matches but determined to produce a performance of high tempo and high intensity. And they lived up to it, racing into a 17-0 lead inside 22 minutes with tries from Paul Sackey and Tom Voy
ce before Danny Cipriani and Josh Lewsey put their training-ground flare-up behind them by combining for the third.
Wasps could not work a fourth try to earn a bonus point – but McGeechan was relieved to see his side back in familiar shape.
"I thought we started well and we were back to a lot of the things we do well," said McGeechan. "Castres were working hard. They are a big pack and we had to get things right today and we did."
Cipriani kicked ten points and created the third try for Lewsey – and the pair then poked fun at the furore created by their scrap on Tuesday.
It became front page news but training-ground flare-ups are not uncommon in rugby. Cipriani and Lewsey celebrated the try with a bit of good-humoured shadow boxing before embracing. "The problem is we need to stop them kissing each other at training as well," laughed McGeechan.
Elsewhere, in Glasgow's Pool 5, Guinness Premiership leaders Bath suffered a heartbreaking last-minute 18-16 defeat at the hands of giants Toulouse despite outscoring the French champions two tries to none. Bath looked to have claimed a famous win when Nick Abendanon scored an unconverted try with three minutes to go. But they were unable to hold on and David Skrela eased Toulouse to a narrow two-point victory with the last kick of the game, clipping over a penalty.
In yesterday's other game, Toby Flood ensured Leicester's bid for a record-equalling third European title began in successful fashion against Ospreys at Welford Road.
The England internationalist went off nursing a leg injury 20 minutes from time, but his four first-half penalties were enough to grind down the lacklustre Welsh 12-6.
On Saturday, England cap Olly Barkley landed four penalties and a conversion of James Simpson-Daniel's 39th-minute try as Gloucester defeated Biarritz 22-10 at Kingsholm. Also in Pool 6, Cardiff Blues demolished Calvisano 56-20 in Italy.
In Pool 4 Stade Francais ended a four-match losing streak at Ravenhill by outclassing Matt Williams' Ulster 26-10. In the section's other match Harlequins came back from the dead to claim a dramatic 29-22 win over Scarlets at Llanelli.
The Londoners trailed 19-3 at half-time but they closed the gap to 22-19 going into the dying stages. Then an Ugo Monye try plus conversion and a late penalty from Chris Malone gave the visitors the win.
The full article contains 498 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
