Rugby Union: Rees' footwork belies his nerves

Wasps 15 Sale 9

THERE was nothing pretty in the way Wasps and Sale tussled for supremacy in a committed, but at times brutal, Tetley's Bitter Cup semi-final at an echoing, near-empty Loftus Road. But with so much at stake no one was surprised, nor was anyone apologising. That there was not a single try for the disappointing 3,539 crowd to cheer was only to be expected.

Neither side was giving any quarter, let alone tries. It all came down to the boot. In Wasps' case that of the mighty Gareth Rees; for Sale the hard-hoofing Shane Howarth. Wasps' other points also came from a kick, Alex King marking his return to stand-off action with a well-taken drop goal, a moment which probably sealed the tie and earned them a final showdown against their north London rivals Saracens. It will be the first all-London final in the history of the competition.

An ugly first half had flared into a shameful brawl as the referee Tony Spreadbury blew the half-time whistle; no action was taken by the official, although he had already shown the yellow card to two Wasps players, Buster White and Simon Mitchell, for illegal use of the boot.

Fortunately it was legitimate footwork which settled things. It is 13 seasons since Rees went, as a schoolboy, cap in hand, to ask his headmaster at Harrow School for a day off from lessons because he was playing for Wasps against Bath in the final of the then John Player Cup.

In the intervening years the chunky Eton schoolmaster, as he now is, has appeared in three World Cups for Canada and won a league championship with Wasps and played in a host of big matches for club, Varsity and country in between.

On Saturday there was little sign of the schoolboy as the apparently nerveless Rees kicked Wasps into their fourth Cup final. But afterwards the genial 30-year-old admitted: "As I have got older I have grown more nervous.

"Before that game back in 1986 I was just ready to show them what I could do. Nowadays I think so much more about my game. I am short- tempered before a match. I get an upset stomach.

"On Friday I was in the school gymnasium at Eton with Kingy, we were banging balls about all over the place just trying to loosen up. That is why I am so delighted he got that drop goal because we were kicking drop goals yesterday over the basketball hoops in the Eton College gym and he was kicking some beautiful balls. It was awesome."

So was the collective performance of the Wasps team, once they had worked the testosterone out of their systems. The back- and second-rows in particular put in some stunning defensive work. Lawrence Dallaglio had the highest tackle count - 14 out of a total of 81 - although he suffered a worrying back injury after being upended in mid-jump at a line-out.

He left the ground clutching at his lower back but assuring everyone that he would be all right for England's Triple Crown bid against Ireland on Saturday.

There had been some serious soul-searching in the build-up to the match and players were invited to write a letter to Nigel Melville, their director of rugby, about where they thought Wasps have been going wrong this season. What was said was kept private, but the result was clear for the public to see, those who bothered to go along to Loftus Road, that is.

The poor turn-out week after week must also be prompting some soul- searching at management level. It is looking increasingly as if the move to share Queen's Park Rangers ground is not working out. There are those at Wasps who feel upping sticks and moving West along the M40, perhaps as far as Oxford, where they would find a more interested rugby following, might not be such a bad thing.

Wasps: Penalties Rees 4; Drop goal King. Sale: Penalties Howarth 3.

Wasps: G Rees; S Roiser, N Greenstock, R Henderson, L Scrase; A King, M Friday (A Gomarsall, 73); D Molloy, S Mitchell (T Leota, 59), W Green, S Shaw, D Cronin, L Dallaglio (capt), P Scrivener, M White (J Worsley, 79).

Sale: J Mallinder (capt); M Moore, J Baxendell, C Yates, T Beim; S Howarth, K Ellis; P Winstanley, S Diamond, D Bell, D Baldwin, S Raiwalui, D Erskine (C Murphy, 65), D O'Cuinneagain, P Sanderson (D O'Grady, 67).

Referee: A Spreadbury (Bath).