Wasps pay late penalty

Jonathan Wisniewski kicked a last-minute penalty as Racing Metro ended Wasps' unbeaten record in the Amlin Challenge Cup with a 19-17 victory in Paris.

Racing fly-half Wisniewski held his nerve from just to the right of the posts after opposite number Danny Cipriani was penalised for a high tackle on him.

Tom Varndell scored a try in each half as Wasps, needing a win to guarantee top seeding in the quarter-finals, led by one point heading into the closing stages.

But Wisniewski's late intervention ensured the Guinness Premiership team were left empty-handed and means Connacht can now claim the top seed with a win at Olympus Rugby in Madrid on Saturday.

Racing, who named a strong line-up despite having already been eliminated from the competition, produced an impressive comeback from 10-3 down after quarter-of-an-hour.

The Top 14 outfit moved 16-10 ahead courtesy of penalty try in the 59th minute.

But Varndell struck for the second time five minutes later and Cipriani's touchline conversion looked to have settled matters before his late indiscretion opened the door for Wisniewski to have the final say.

Opportunistic

Wasps had been under pressure throughout the opening exchanges before Varndell turned the game on its head with an opportunistic score.

Ben Jacobs' hopeful hoof upfield from deep inside his own half created the chance for the winger to stretch his legs.

He also required good footballing skills to complete the end-to-end break, twice tapping the ball forward before handing off Mani Vakaloa and touching down in the right corner.

Cipriani added the conversion and also slotted a penalty to give the visitors a 10-3 lead but, with Racing's pack being constantly penalised for infringements at the breakdown, it should have been more.

The Wasps fly-half missed two presentable penalties in quick succession and, in contrast, Racing were picking up points from each foray upfield - Wisniewski landing a penalty and drop goal to reduce the deficit to one point shortly before the half-hour mark.

Despite a sustained spell of pressure from Wasps, no further points were added before the interval.

Wasps continued to press in the early stages of the second half and it took a last-ditch tackle from Francois Steyn to deny Dan Ward-Smith a try.

The South African managed to flip the Wasps number eight onto his back to prevent him getting the ball down between the posts.

That escape appeared to revive Racing, and in particular their forwards, who took total control of the breakdown.

Wasps were forced to resort to illegal tactics to stop their opponents' march upfield and, after blowing up for the latest in a string of penalties, Welsh referee James Jones lost patience and sent Ward-Smith to the sin-bin.

Penalty try

Jones was in the thick of the action again shortly afterwards, awarding Racing a penalty try after Wasps hauled down a scrum close to their own line.

Wisniewski kicked the conversion to give the Parisians a 16-10 advantage entering the final quarter of the match.

Just as Racing looked to be turning the screw they were hit by a second Varndell sucker punch as 14-man Wasps regained the lead.

Cipriani's wayward mis-pass bounced in midfield before Jacobs picked up the loose ball and put through a grubber for Varndell to pounce on in the right corner.

The tricky conversion was landed by Cipriani to put the English team one-point ahead with 16 minutes remaining.

And Wasps, now back to their full complement, were almost in again in the 67th minute when Dan Scarborough just managed to prevent David Lemi scoring in the left corner after another kick through.

Racing threw caution to the wind during the closing stages but could find no way through Wasps' stout defence until the last moment when Cipriani was pulled up for a neck-high tackle on Wisniewski.

The latter brushed himself down and, with the final act of the game, planted his kick straight and true to deny Wasps.