Yesterday we welcomed Battersea Ironsides to Wasps for the first time as a squad.Playing in the Surrey League they were an unknown quantity, but Wasps were determined to build on their success from the previous weekend.
Battersea had other ideas and took them by surprise in the opening minutes. By their own admission Wasps were completely out of position in defence and the Battersea winger exploited the gaps and ran in 2 tries. The second, under the posts, was duly converted. Wasps were 12 points down and had to wake up quick.....and they did. As with last week the forwards put in a massive display and Battersea could not get their hands on the ball. Usually it is the forwards who outscore their backs, but in such good conditions the backs decided they had a point to make and with quality supply they ran the Battersea defence into the ground. By half time Wasps had run away with the game, and it was their backs who had found their way.
Wasps continued the 2nd half with an onslaught and forced the gaps. There were some extraordinary individual performances from all over the squad but it was a squad of close friends who came together as a team to produce their best rugby for a very long time.
Battersea did get a consolation try in the 2nd half, but the final Wasps try came as a complete surprise to the opposition as well as the Wasps coaches. The forwards took advantage of an injury stoppage to create a move of their own from a line-out inside the Battersea 22 and with the conversion they chalked up their 50th point of the match.
Wasps had their full squad of 19 available and they all played a major part in our biggest score for a long time.