Goode guides Tigers to Twickenham
Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:02
Try-scoring machine: Martin Castrogiovanni on the charge
Andy Goode stole the limelight from England's man of the moment Danny Cipriani as he guided Leicester to a deserved 34-24 victory over Wasps at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday ... and into the EDF Energy Cup Final at Twickenham next month.
Goode scored one try, created another and kicked 14 points to book the defending champions a date at Twickenham on April 12 and end Leicester's poor run against Wasps in knockout rugby.
The Tigers had never beaten Wasps on neutral territory, having lost at Twickenham in last season's Heineken Cup Final and in the 2005 Guinness Premiership Final.
But after working a narrow half-time lead, they pulled clear with tries from Seru Rabeni, the excellent Dan Hipkiss and Martin Castrogiovanni.
Cipriani and Paul Sackey carried the Wasps fight with two tries each - the former's second coming late in the day when the game was already up - and they now face a major battle to qualify for next season's Heineken Cup.
Wasps' only available avenue is through the Guinness Premiership and, currently sixth, they must finish in the top four to guarantee qualification.
The result also marked a sour return to Cardiff for Wasps head coach Shaun Edwards, who only last weekend was celebrating his role in Wales' Grand Slam triumph.
Wasps lost Simon Shaw to a knee injury on Saturday morning and lost the forward battle against a Leicester side who set the tone early and earned the rewards as the game wore on.
The Tigers enjoyed virtually unbroken possession for the opening 15 minutes, but had only a Goode penalty to show for it, thanks to a lack of good finishing and a lack of good fortune.
Inside the first minute, Castrogiovanni burst past James Haskell but blew the try-scoring chance when he ignored flank Ben Herring on the outside.
England flank Tom Croft was heavily involved as Leicester kept the pressure on, attacking round the fringes to plough deep into Wasps territory.
The Tigers were then just the bounce of the ball away from the opening try as Tom Varndell just failed to latch on to Harry Ellis' chip over the top.
Leicester continued to hammer away, with Rabeni and Alex Tuilagi used as battering rams through the middle, but they found little change from a committed Wasps defence.
After weathering all that pressure, Wasps stung Leicester with a brilliant solo try from Cipriani - who seared through a half-gap and stretched out of a tackle from Hipkiss to score in the corner.
Ellis showed a glimpse of what England have been missing during his injury absence this season with a 40-yard break, and Goode landed a penalty to bring Leicester back to within a point.
Wasps' Ireland scrumhalf Eion Reddan made a telling blindside break of his own, from the base of a scrum, and Sackey held off Leicester fullback Johne Murphy to finish brilliantly in the corner.
But Leicester hit back almost immediately to finally breach the Wasps defence, Hipkiss sending Goode over under the posts.
Leicester extended their advantage within five minutes of the restart, after Hipkiss surged past Lawrence Dallaglio - and Varndell sent Rabeni over for the try.
Cipriani missed a simple penalty attempt, and Leicester punished Wasps hard - with Croft stealing a line-out and Goode creating the decisive try for Hipkiss.
Goode regathered his own chip and slipped the pass to Hipkiss, who raced over under the posts and put Leicester 15 points clear.
Wasps refused to concede defeat, and Sackey bagged a second try - after Cipriani, now at fullback following Dave Walder's introduction, tipped Haskell's pass outside to the England winger.
But Leicester had too much, and Castrogiovanni scored after Hipkiss had latched onto Tuilagi's offload - which looked dubiously forward.
Cipriani's second try was a searing breakaway score, but Leicester already
had the match won.
Man of the match: He simply is too good to be ignored and Andy Goode gets out vote for a match-winning performance.
Moment of the match: The man is a try-scoring machine and prop Martin Castrogiovanni's 68th-minute score gets our vote - even though it may not have been the most aesthetically pleasing of the day.
Villain of the match: No card, no villains.
The scorers:
For Leicester:
Tries: Goode, Rabeni, Hipkiss, Castrogiovanni
Cons: Goode 4
Pens: Goode 2
For Wasps:
Tries: Cipriani 2, Sackey 2
Cons: Cipriani, Walder
Leicester: 15 Johne Murphy, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Seru Rabeni, 12 Dan Hipkiss, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry
(captain), 7 Ben Herring, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 George Chuter, 1 Boris Stankovich.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Julian White, 19 Jordan Crane, 20 Christophe Laussucq, 21 Matt Cornwell, 22 Sam Vesty.
Wasps: 15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Fraser Waters, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 David Doherty, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (captain), 7 James Haskell, 6 John Hart, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 George Skivington, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Joe Ward, 17 Tom French, 18 Richard Birkett, 19 Dan Leo, 20 Mark McMillan, 21 Dave Walder, 22 Dominic Waldouck.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch judges: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales), Jon Mason (Wales)
TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)
