Josh Lewsey's injury-time try, when he intercepted a cross- kick by McKenzie practically on the Wasps line before running the length of the pitch, was countered by Bourgoin's New Zealand-born full-back, Glenn Davis, whose try crowned an entertaining afternoon.Wasps: Tries Logan, Wood, Worsley, Lewsey; Conversions Ufton, Logan 3; Penalties Logan 3.Bourgoin: Tries Glas, Davis; Conversions McKenzie 2; Penalties McKenzie 3.Wasps: J Ufton; J Lewsey, F Waters, M Denney, K Logan; A King, M Wood; D Molloy, T Leota (D Macer, 18-25), W Green, A Reed (M Weedon, 79), S Shaw, L Dallaglio (capt), P Scrivener, J Worsley.Bourgoin: G Davis; L Leflamand, J McLaren, S Glas, L Gioliti; M Mckenzie, A Nicoud; O Milloud, J-F Tordo (J Martin-Culet, 61), P Peyron, R Mohr, L Nallet, A Chazalet (capt), P Raschi, S Chabal (S Fischer, 73).Referee: C Muir (Scotland).. Finally they went for the points, when Wasps were yet again penalised for offside within their 22, and McKenzie knocked over his third penalty.And the penalties kept coming. Never could one side - Wasps - have been offside so often, but that was how the referee, Charles Muir, saw it. His first two penalties had pulled the French to within grasping distance of Wasps by half-time.After Worsley's 44th-minute try, which Logan converted, the Bourgoin pack asserted themselves again and took play back upfield and, suddenly finding themselves under pressure, Wasps conceded a hatful of penalties. For the first few Bourgoin opted each time to look for a possible try from the line-out, but on no occasion were they able to use the ball - they either found themselves beaten back by sound defence, or, on another occasion the throw was not straight. But Bourgoin were a slippery outfit and in McKenzie, a Scotland A player who has previously played for Stirling County and Edinburgh Reivers, they had an equally good kicker. They rallied though, Stephane Glas opening up a corridor and darting through, while Mark McKenzie knocked over the simple conversion.Back came Wasps, landing a sucker punch at a ruck when their scrum-half, Martyn Wood, jinked through and touched down This time Logan converted.
Joe Worsley's try early in the second half illustrated that perfectly, the flanker knifing through after the backs had prodded, probed and pulled the Bourgoin defence this way and that trying to create the opening.Bourgoin's problems began early on when they fell offside well within Logan's range, and when the Scotland wing tore away for the line three minutes later, released by his captain, Lawrence Dallaglio, it began to look like one-way traffic.Jon Ufton, the full-back, converted the try before Logan added a second penalty, and within a quarter of an hour Bourgoin were rattled and looking shaky. Wasps entered the match looking to leap-frog Llanelli at the top, while Bourgoin were simply trying to get on level terms with the two British clubs They failed. Despite a late French flurry, Wasps had proved superior up front, sharper behind the scrum and, despite conceding a bucketload of penalties in the final quarter, they never lost their nerve. The French may have possessed pace in the backs but it was Wasps who had the cunning running, with lines that opened up their opponents' defence at regular intervals and an all-round scorer in Kenny Logan, whose 20 points included a try, three penalties and three conversions.Wasps' threequarters were forever hacking bits out of the French cover and in the close encounters there was always a back-row man on call. BOURGOIN WERE last year's European Shield finalists. But having made the step up to the higher examination presented by the Heineken Cup, the French side have been struggling to assert themselves in Pool Three of the competition It got no easier for them yesterday.
Bridgend: Penalties P Williams 2.Gloucester: T Fanolua; B Johnson, R Jewell (C Yates, 77), J Ewens (C Catling, 33), T Glassie; R Tombs, L Beck; A Powles (P Vickery, 65-70), N McCarthy, P Vickery (S Sanchez, 52), A Eustace, M Cornwell, P Glanville (capt), E Pearce (R Ward, 52), J Djoudi.Bridgend: A Durston; O Thomas, J Funnell (L Davies, 59), J Devereux, D de Caux (A Jenkins, 79); P Williams, S Wake; D Francis, A Joy (G Thomas, 79), T Taumoupau (C Ferris, 59), O Lloyd (capt), P Clapham (C Bugen, 79), C Davies (R Webster, 41), A Williams, M Molitika.Referee: M McEwan (Scotland).. This could prove a dogged side, and however well they do in Europe, with such snarling pack of game-starved players they will pose a real threat in the Premiership.Gloucester: Tries Ewens, Cornwell, Johnson; Conversion Fanolua; Penalties Fanolua 2. No position is safe."Saint-Andre knows the players need rest as much as they need matches, and is keeping them lean on the sidelines until they are snapping to get on, when they are unleashed. No player is guaranteed their place in the side," he said, "And that has to be a good thing, to have pressure on places. The side began well, and by half time had run in three tries, a couple of them absolute crackers.But they finished rather less brightly. Thankfully the "shadow" side was still able to maintain a comfortable distance between itself and the opposition chiefly thanks to some magnificent defensive work when Bridgend burst their shackles briefly.Among the shades being given a run-out was the England tighthead prop Phil Vickery, who has finally shaken off a troublesome groin injury which flared up during the World Cup and was aggravated when he resumed club duties.But even fully fit, as he asserts he now is, Vickery cannot expect to walk straight back into the side. Saint-Andre is not wild about the tournament - "It offers us nothing if we win it, no prize money, no place in the Heineken Cup" - nevertheless it does offer him the chance to test the mettle of his squad."What matters most to us is the Allied Dunbar Premiership," he reaffirmed.
"I still have to work hard to get back into the Gloucester team. "That is the only way into the European Cup and that is where we want to be, so we are concentrating on finishing in the top four."They have made a good start; they also happen to be top of that particular heap, although if they lose their focus in the Premiership, as they did against a lacklustre and unimaginative Bridgend on Saturday, then they will find it a struggle. Much of that credit must go to Philippe Saint-Andre, their coach, who has just committed himself to a further two years at Kingsholm, and if Gloucester carry on as they have been doing, the former France wing could well find himself canonised and adopted by the close-knit rugby community in these parts. This morning the cherry-and-whites are top of their particular heap in Europe, Pool Six of the Shield. "I saw Tim jump and I knew where I could make up time," Beerbaum said. "He went round the white gate to the double at fence six, so I went inside." This ploy gave him victory by a 2.57sec margin on Priamos, who has won nearly pounds 400,000 during the three and a half years he has been with Beerbaum and is due to retire soon.. THE GALLIC influence cannot be denied at Gloucester.
For so long one of the most insular of clubs, rarely straying beyond the county boundaries to unearth new talent, these days they are at the forefront of a movement that is uniting nations and tapping resources from Samoa, Morocco and France. Two riders came uncomfortably close - Carry Huis In'T, from the Netherlands, on Iceberg, and Switzerland's Beat Mandli, on Pozitano, finishing in an identical time just 0.23sec behind Whitaker to share second place. The distinguished German rider had failed to make the World Cup jump-off when his eight- year-old, Gold Fever, whom he now regards as his No 1 horse, made a single error in the opening round.Yesterday Beerbaum rode his older partner, the 18-year-old PS Priamos, to win the Kickon Mistletoe Stakes and so thwart the high hopes of Britain's long-time leader, Tim Stockdale on Traxdata Glenwood Springs.Like Firestone, Beerbaum acknowledged that he had the luck of the draw in going last. Geoff Billington finished fifth on Virtual Village It's Otto, after one refusal when taking a short turn into the third of the jump-off fences.The venerable Welham has jumped in no more than "eight or nine" shows this year and, according to his rider, "the system seems to suit him".Ludger Beerbaum, the former Olympic and European champion, described Whitaker's latest victory with an aged partner as "amazing". Having taken the shortest possible route over the twisty first four fences, Whitaker maintained a smart pace without taking any undue risks. He then had to sit and wait while others did their utmost to catch him."It was quite nerve-racking watching the others, but there's nothing you can do about it," Whitaker said. Twelve months earlier he had won the same contest on Grannusch, then also 19, with a whirlwind round against the clock, which included one alarmingly tight turn.Welham, the first of nine into the jump-off, was equally nippy.
