Howley snatches famous Wasps win

Wasps squeak past Toulouse to hoist 2004 Heineken Cup

London Wasps stripped Toulouse of their European crown in the Heineken Cup Final at Twickenham on Sunday, by squeaking to a 27-20 victory in the dying minutes of the contest. The Frenchmen exuded style and grace, but the Londoners had grit and determination on their side - not to mention scrum-half Rob Howley, who skipped over in 78th minute to secure the famous win.

The Welsh legend's try will live long in the memories of Wasps fan - and will reappear intermittent in the nightmares of Toulouse fullback Clément Poitrenaud whose moment of indecision allowed the Welshman to put the contest beyond doubt.

Howley put in a highly speculative grubber and scampered after the ball that was bouncing drunkenly towards the corner. Poitrenaud waited to see if the ball would bounce out or cross the tryline - but he dithered for too long, and Howley managed to knock the ball from the France fullback's feeble grasp to score.

Mark van Gisbergen conversion gave the Londoners' a seven-point cushion, and - with just two minutes remaining - the legions of black and yellow finally felt confident enough to start celebrating their club's first Heineken Cup title.

Indeed, prior to Howley's try, no one would have been brave enough to elect a winner. Wave after wave of flowing French raids threatened to sink the English in a deluge of tries, but Wasps somehow managed to keep their noses ahead for the majority of the match.

The fact that Wasps managed to keep the talented Toulousians at bay speaks volumes of their titanic tackling, and their ruthless brand of offence defence that ultimated won them the European title.

But it was Toulouse who got the Twickenham scoreboard ticking over, with veteran fly-half Yann Delaigue taking advantage of Wasps' early stage-fright with two penalties - both conceded by over-eager loosehead prop Tim Payne, in for the injured Craig Dowd.

Van Gisbergen hit back with a penalty, before England centre Stuart Abbott finished off an impressive Wasps move that started with a powerful break from Simon Shaw. The giant England lock was brought down just short of the line, but Howley recycled to Abbott who stepped inside Toulouse lock Trevor Brennan to cross for the game's opening try.

Van Gisbergen followed up a successful conversion with a good-looking penalty to give the 'home' side a useful 13-6 lead.

Toulouse came back at Wasps, using some intricate inter-passing to open up the tight defence. Wasps managed to keep their line out of harm's way until Delaigue brought his side back within two points with a try in the 38th minute of play.

Wasps went into the break holding a slender 13-11 lead, but widened the gap early in the second half with a try scored and converted by Van Gisbergen.

Wasps skipper Lawrence Dallaglio picked up from the base of a scrum and fed Howley who span a pass out to his partner Alex King. The fly-half put himself beyond the Toulouse defence with a beautiful inside step before finding Van Gisbergen, who sped home from 30 metres out.
 
With the game ebbing away from them, Toulouse replaced Delaigue with France scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and slotted Frédéric Michalak back into the fly-half berth.

The running repairs gave the Toulouse attack more verve, and they kept Wasps pinned back to their line.

The pressure soon got to Wasps, and Dallaglio received a yellow card for continued off-side - Elissalde immediately added insult to injury by slotting his first penalty of the afternoon.

King attempted to re-insert the points cushion with a drop-goal, but his attempt hit the post. Elissalde then confirmed Toulouse's ascendancy by cooly reduced the deficit with two quick penalties to leave the scores tied at 20 all.

Both sets of fans could hardly bear to watch, but Howley kept his eyes firmly on the ball - and duly condemned Poitrenaud to a very restless night.

Man of the match: A fine performance from both sides - Joe Worsley had an immense game in defence, but our award goes to the inexhaustible Rob Howley. The try help his cause, but he had us from the word go! Not for the first time this season, the former Wales skipper was the eye of the black and yellow storm. Howley plays his rugby from his heart, and is an inspiration to those around him.

Moment of the match: Toulouse were full of beautiful running rugby, and launched several flowing moves from deep, but were denied time after time by Wasps' impregnable defence wall. If there was one moment that epitomised the hard-hitting resolve of the Londoners it was Joe Worsley's hit in the 53 minute.

Villain of the match: It would be poor form to hand this award to the euphoric winning captain, but Lawrence Dallaglio needs a slap on the wrist for his 'professional' piece of defensive play that earned him a yellow card and denied Toulouse a decent shot at the Wasps line. But big 'Lol' played his way back into affections upon his return to the fray. Likewise, Clément Poitrenaud will suffer enough in the weeks (years?) ahead without us adding to his woes, so we'll boot this dubious gong into touch - this fine match should not be sullied by anything so ugly! No Villains this time.

The scorers:

For London Wasps:
Tries: Abbott, Van Gisbergen, Howley
Cons: Van Gisbergen 3
Pens: Van Gisbergen 2

For Toulouse:
Try: Delaigue
Pens: Elissalde 3, Delaigue 2

The teams:

London Wasps: 15 Mark van Gisbergen, 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Fraser Waters, 12 Stuart Abbott, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Alex King, 9 Rob Howley, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (captain), 7 Paul Volley, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Richard Birkett, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Will Green, 2 Trevor Leota, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements not used: 16 Henry Nwume, 17 Mark Lock, 18 Ben Gotting, 19 Martin Purdy, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Mark Denney, 22 Ayoola Erinle.

Yellow cards: Dallaglio (56-66)

Toulouse: 15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Emile Ntamack (Vincent Clerc 66), 13 Yannick Jauzion, 12 Cedric Desbrosse, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Yann Delaigue (Jean-Baptiste Elissalde 52), 9 Frédéric Michalak, 8 Christian Labit (I Maka 58), 7 Jean Bouilhou, 6 Finau Maka, 5 Trevor Brennan, 4 Fabien Pelous (captain), 3 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 2 William Servat (Yannick Bru 58), 1 Patrice Collazo.
Replacements not used: 17 Julian Fiorini, 18 Romain Millochlusky, 19 David Gerard

Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

By Andy Jackson