Harlequins ended Wasps unbeaten run in a 20-8 victory at Surrey Sports Park. A number of penalties and three yellow cards for the visitors proved their undoing, as Harlequins direct carrying and strong set piece work provided a platform for victory.
Wasps opened the scoring inside three minutes with a penalty from Florence Williams. Despite a large amount of possession for Harlequins, it was Wasps who picked up the opening try of the day.
Georgia Wood pounced on a loose ball and made inroads into the Harlequins half. Accurate handling put Makeda Lewis in space down the wing and a fantastic offload found Louise Dodd who raced in for the score.
Wasps’ ferocious defensive work kept Harlequins pinned in their half for large parts of the first period, but they failed to take control of possession. Wasps found themselves on the wrong side of the official, as a number of penalties kept Harlequins in the ascendancy. Eventually the pressure told as Scotland international Jade Konkel carried well from the base of a scrum, before Jen Vik finished the score for the hosts.
Wasps were reduced to 13 players within two minutes. The first yellow was given to Megan Horwood after a number of penalties for offside. This was followed immediately afterwards by a yellow for Emily Maisey for a high tackle as the Harlequins player ducked into contact. Despite the pressure from the hosts the visitors were leading 8-5 at the break.
Wasps were put under immediate pressure at the start of the second half, as Harlequins looked to make the two-person advantage count. After a scrum deep inside Wasps territory the ball was spread wide and Georgia Newman finished in the corner.
Shortly after the return of the sin binned players, Wasps were reduced to 14 yet again as Louise Dodd was yellow carded for offside despite Harlequins being in possession inside their own 22m. Wasps were unable to repel the hosts as they scored twice in quick succession late in the game. Another strong scrum for Quins created space out wide for Jade Mullen to race in, before Beth Dainton scored Harlequins fourth try.
Wasps refused to lie down and continued to look to work themselves back into the game. Sammy Graham was held up over the line with just over 10 minutes to go, as the referee yellow carded a Harlequins player. Unfortunately, the black and gold were unable to capitalise and the hosts saw the game out to seal a 20-8 win.
The frustrating result means Wasps fall off the top of the development league, and will look to bounce back to winning ways as they face Loughborough Lightning at the start of December. Harlequins, picking up four tries, move ahead of the visitors in the table.
Courtesy of Wasps
