Wasps move in on play-offs
Stephen Jones edged the battle of the boots at Adams Park to help London Wasps move a giant step closer to Euro Challenge Cup quarterfinal qualification, with a 30-16 victory over Bayonne that takes them five points clear of the French club with two rounds to go in the New Year.
Jones took his European points tally to 946 with four penalty goals and now Wasps only have to make sure there are no slip ups against Mogliano at Adams Park and Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade to win a last eight place.
But it was nip and tuck until Italian international centre Andrea Masi went over in the 73rd minute to put daylight between the sides after Bayonne had battled back to cut the deficit to just four points.
Jones steadied Wasps early nerves with three out of three successful penalty goals in the second, fifth and 13th minutes while at the other end Jacques-Louis Potgieter pushed two early attempts wide to let Wasps off the hook.
Jones proved fallible when he failed to add the conversion to fullback Elliott Daly's 31st minute try and Daly also contributed with the boot when he was on target with a penalty shortly before the break.
But Wasps' hopes of keeping Bayonne scoreless going into half-time were dashed when All Black Joe Rokocoko, playing in the centre, broke through for a try Potgieter converted to cut the deficit to 10 points and set up a nervy final 40 minutes.
Bayonne's next points came when they were reduced to 14 men with full back Scott Spedding kicking his heels in the sin bin but the goal kicking roles were reversed in the second period.
Wasps were guilty of giving Potgieter far too many chances with the boot and the outside half responded with three from three while Jones was on target with his only opportunity as the contest went into the final quarter with all to play for.
Wasps also suffered from going a man down when No 8 Billy Vunipola was yellow carded but Masi's strike and replacement Nicky Robinson's conversion and late penalty goal eased Wasps out of harm's way and denied Bayonne even a losing bonus point.
* In the other Thursday match Stade Francais Paris made it four from four and edged ever closer to quarterfinal qualification as the group winners, but I Cavalieri Prato were anything but pushovers at the MM Arena in Le Mans and made the big-spending French club battle all the way for a 29-6 win.
And they were made to wait until the 75th minute before banking the bonus point with Francis Fainifo - who scored a try hat-trick in the Round Three contest - going over for the club's fourth of the match and his fifth of the tournament to take them to 19 points with matches against Grenoble at home and away to London Welsh to come in the New Year.
Jerome Porical and Simone Ragusi exchanged penalties in the first quarter and outside half Ragusi added another just short of the half hour.
Those strikes with the boot sandwiched Paris' first try with lock Juan Cruz Guillemain forcing his way over and I Cavalieri Prato's cause was not helped when another lock made the news but for all the wrong reasons, Alessandro being sin binned just before the break and missing when the second half action resumed.
And the spotlight stayed firmly on the second row forwards, Nicolas Garrault punishing their opponents while a man short by matching his lock partner on the try front with Paris' second.
Centre Jeremy Sinzelle got in on the try scoring act with Paris' third seven minutes from the end before try machine Fainifo struck yet again to warp it up in style.
Thursday's scores and scorers:
London Wasps 30-16 Bayonne
The scorers:
For Wasps:
Tries: Daly, Masi
Con: Robinson
Pens: Stephen Jones 4, Daly, Robinson
For Bayonne:
Try: Rokocoko
Con: Potgieter
Pens: Potgieter 3
Yellow cards: Scott Spedding (Bayonne, 35), Billy Vunipola (Wasps, 62)
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Elliott Daly, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Chris Bell, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Sam Jones, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 James Cannon, 3 Zak Taulafo, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 T Rhys Thomas, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 William Taylor, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Jonathan Poff, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Nicky Robinson, 23 Thomas Bell.
Bayonne: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Marvin O'Connor, 13 Joe Rokocoko, 12 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 Jacques Louis Potgieter, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Dwayne Haare, 7 Julien Puricelli, 6 Guillaume Bernad, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Dewald Senekal, 3 Renaud Boyoud, 2 Gregory Arganese, 1 Aretz Iguiniz.
Replacements: 16 Vitolio Manukula, 17 Pierre Philippe Lafond, 18 Nemiah Tialata, 19 Abdellatif Boutaty, 20 Jean-Jo Marmouyet, 21 Cedric Garcia, 22 Thibault Lacroix, 23 Lionel Mazars.
Referee: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Peter Allan (Scotland), Andy Macpherson (Scotland)
TMO: Iain Heard (Scotland)
Stade Francais Paris 29-6 I Cavalieri Prato
The scorers:
For Stade Francais Paris:
Tries: Guillemain, Garrault, Sinzelle, Fainifo
Cons: Porical 3
Pen: Porical
For I Cavalieri Prato:
Pens: Ragusi 2
Yellow card: Alessandro Boscolo (I Cavalieri Prato, 40)
Teams:
Stade Français: 15 Jérome Porical, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Francis Fainifo, 12 Jérémy Sinzelle, 11 Paul Sackey, 10 Paul Warwick, 9 Nicolas Bezy, 8 Pierre Rabadan, 7 Arthur Chollon, 6 Lei Tomiki, 5 Juan Cruz Guillemain, 4 Nicolas Garrault, 3 Stan Wright, 2 Michael Van Vuuren, 1 Zurabi Zhvania.
Replacements: 16 Remi Bonfils, 17 Jérémy Becasseau, 18 Nahuel Tetaz, 19 Anton van Zyl, 20 Sergio Parisse, 21 Lucas Rubio, 22 Julien Dupuy, 23 Jules Plisson.
I Cavalieri Prato: 15 Niccolò Tempestini, 14 Alessandro Lunardi, 13 Denis Majstorovic, 12 Ross McCann, 11 Billy Ngwaini, 10 Simone Ragusi, 9 Pino Patelli, 8 Alberto Saccardo, 7 Luca Petillo, 6 Alfonso Damiani, 5 Alessandro Boscolo, 4 Giuseppe Boggiani, 3 Andrea Pozzi, 2 Renzo Balboni, 1 Nicolas De Gregori.
Replacements: 16 Niccolò Cannone, 17 Andrea Lupetti, 18 Rome Nifo Tautua, 19 Edoardo Ruffolo, 20 Leonardo Della Ratta, 21 Michele Sepe, 22 Fabio Nannini, 23 Alessandro Borsi,
Referee: Neil Hennessy (Wales)
Assistant referees: Martyn Lewis (Wales), Barrie Gregory (Wales), Gareth Simmonds (Wales)