Wasps sting at the death
- 1729
Bristol Bears came in as the favorites in this game, with the bookies predicting a home win. Depending on which statistics one was to look at different conclusions would've been drawn. The Wasps had been outscored in each of their last 10 second half away games. On the other hand, the home side has only been outscored once in their last 10 Premiership home games, in the second half that is. The other analytic coming before this game was the fact that the Wasps had won two of the previous games between these two sides.
It was the latter statistic that was to bear the truth as Nizaam Carr went over at the death to secure a 26 - 21 victory for his side. We take a look at the key performances from tonight:
Malakai Fekitoa - Wasps
With both sides carrying a number of All Black players, one would have sworn that all of them were playing for national selection. But the pick of all the players was none other than the deadly Malakai Fekitoa. Having moved from the Top 14, the relatively new centre was on fire tonight causing headaches for the defence on numerous occasions. Throughout the game, the outside centre managed to rack up the following figures: 101 running metres, 6 defenders beaten and two clean breaks. He also broke a very nice line to the lead up of the Wasps third try.
Charles Piutau - Bristol Bears
Another New Zealander to crack the Top Performers node. It is a real pity that he finds himself in the losing team, the full-back ended up topping the metres gained figures with 108 metres. He, like Fekitoa, also beat 6 defenders and managed to score a try in the 54th minute. This was after a few pick up and drives by Bristol. The ball was sent wide and the 28-year-old managed to beat the rush defence to go over.
Harry Thacker - Bristol Bears
The Leicester born hooker played his socks out this evening and nearly inspired a brilliant Bristol come when he scored in the 69th. It only turned out that there was still more to play for. There will not be much to fault the hooker for, even though he might have been part of the losing team his defensive was pinpoint, bringing down 16 players. His 18 metres came off 6 carries with two clean breaks.