Rugby Union: Grayson's ready touch too much for Wasps
Northampton 18 Wasps 1
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One can only assume that Keith Barwell cut a contented figure on Saturday afternoon. Northampton's owner was unable to see his side's deserved victory over the dispirited Wasps, but received regular updates via the mobile phone as he bore witness instead to the marriage of his daughter Ella.
At least it will be a few years before Lawrence Dallaglio has to foot the wedding bill for his own daughter, also Ella. Far more pressing are the demands of captaining an England team which heads for France in February without a win in six matches, and a Wasps side which on Saturday slipped to a fifth successive league defeat - their worst ever sequence.
No one, least of all England's management duo of Clive Woodward and Roger Uttley, who were at a rain-lashed Franklins Gardens, doubts Dallaglio's credentials. But the flanker cut a forlorn figure as he wearily queried the referee Brian Campsall's meting out of penalties to punish Wasps' habit of killing Northampton rucks.
On the same ground eight months previously Wasps strangled the life out of Northampton, and secured their league title with tries from Shane Roiser and Kenny Logan. On Saturday the Saints were no more able to go marching in to the try line, but the same pair of wingers barely had a sniff either.
Nigel Melville, Wasps director of rugby, rightly pointed out that the champions still have 16 matches to play. But while he bemoaned the effects on his squad of the four-week break for internationals, his Northampton counterpart Ian McGeechan spoke of how he had used that time to great advantage.
The old "tap and go" philosophy appears to have been tempered by pragmatism, partly through the influence of the South African prop, Garry Pagel. The mighty efforts of Pagel and Co received worthy support from Paul Grayson. The outside half landed six penalties and touch-kicked the life out of Wasps in the first half. In the second, Northampton missed a try-scoring chance when Gregor Townsend held on too long with men outside.
The only try came late on, when Tim Rodber's loose pass caught out Jon Sleightholme. Wasps' replacement scrum-half Mike Friday slithered in for the score and Gareth Rees hastily converted, but with two scores still required the game was up.
Northampton: Penalties Grayson 6. Wasps: Try Friday; Conversion Rees; Penalty Rees.
Northampton: J Bell; J Sleightholme, G Townsend, A Northey, B Cohen (H Thorneycroft, ht); P Grayson, M Dawson (J Bramhall, 49); G Pagel, A Clarke, M Stewart, J Chandler, J Phillips, D Mackinnon, T Rodber (Captain), B Pountney.
Wasps: G Rees; S Roiser, L Scrase, A James (P Sampson, 46), K Logan; A King, M Wood (M Friday, 68); D Molloy (A Black, 77), S Mitchell (T Leota, 60), W Green, D Cronin (A Reed, 60), S Shaw, L Dallaglio (Captain), P Scrivener, M White.
Referee: B Campsall (Halifax).
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