| Against the head
 Wasps
and Ireland star JOHNNY O’CONNOR
It proved to be the perfect Christmas holiday break for us at Wasps
with two back-to-back Premiership victories over Gloucester and London
Irish. After our impressive display at home against Llanelli in the last
round of the Heineken Cup it was great to add two further victories that
took us temporarily to the top of the table.
However Sale’s tremendous 21-9 victory over Bath at the Rec on Tuesday
has put them on the same number of points as ourselves and proves beyond
all doubt that they are so far the team of the year. However it is our
intention to keep in touch with them all the way and our bonus-point
victory at the Madejski Stadium on New Year’s Eve was the clearest
indication yet that we have no intention of surrendering our title
without a fight.
I had to agree with our captain Lawrence Dallaglio who admitted that we
were not even at our best but still managed to score four tries. It was
our defence that proved the main difference between the sides. London
Irish have certainly improved this season and deserve to be in the upper
half of the table but the battle for European places is only now really
beginning to intensify.
Another pleasing feature of last Saturday’s game was the performances of
scrum-half Eoin Reddan and Jeremy Staunton at out-half. Eoin has been
keeping Matt Dawson out of the starting line-up recently which is some
indication of the progress he has made since he joined us this summer.
Jeremy made a welcome start in the No. 10 shirt and proved a capable
deputy for Alex King.
Joe Worsley also made a try-scoring return for us after being out
injured for a couple of months. His performance is also sure to have
pleased England manager Andy Robinson ahead of the Six Nations
tournament which begins early next month. Lawrence Dallaglio also looks
set to play an important role in England’s opener against Grand Slam
winners Wales at Twickenham on February 4.
Leinster got the better of Munster in one of the top Celtic League games
last weekend. It was great to hear that both Brian O’Driscoll and Paul
O’Connell were back in action and hopefully they will both be able to
steer clear of injury ahead of the start of the Six Nations. Connacht
also had a fine victory over Ulster which will have done Michael
Bradley’s team’s confidence a power of good as they attempt to get away
from the basement of the Celtic League table.
I’m currently enjoying a welcome rest back home in Galway. Since I will
probably not be starting against Newcastle Falcons it will also be an
opportunity to cure some of the slight injuries I picked up recently.
After Sunday’s game we have the trip to Toulouse and then our final home
game against Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup.
These will be tough games before my return to international duty where I
am also expecting tough competition for places on the Ireland
team.
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