Wasps stung at the death

Wasps saw their European dreams dashed after Dimitri Yachvilli's late penalty handed Biarritz a 26-23 victory in Saturday's Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final at Adams Park.

Wasps had showed great fight to battle back from 23-9 down to level the scores at 23-23, however France international Yachvili, who produced a 100 per cent kicking display, landed a 75th minute penalty to deny the Londoners.

Aiming to be the first Top 14 side to win at Adams Park after Bayonne and Bordeaux both failed earlier in the season, Biarritz took control thanks to four penalties from Yachvili and converted first-half tries from former England full-back Iain Balshaw and prop Eugene Van Standen.

Wasps replied through tries from winger Christian Wade and centre Ryan Davies, with fly-half Nick Robinson landing both conversions and three penalties, but the visitors had the final say to book a home semi-final against either Brive or Scarlets.

Handful

Biarritz, fresh from four successive league victories, should have gone ahead in the fifth minute when fly-half Julien Peyrelongue and Balshaw split the Wasps defence but flanker Wenceslas Lauret fumbled the Englishman's final pass.

Wasps struck the first blow when Robinson kicked a simple opening penalty after 12 minutes.

Balshaw was proving a real handful but, with speedster Takudzwa Ngwenya outside him, he cut inside and was halted by Hugo Southwell's crunching tackle.

Robinson doubled the Wasps lead eight minutes later with his second penalty following an inexplicable error by Balshaw, who was under no pressure when he deliberately knocked the ball into touch following a kick to the corner from Wasps scrum-half Charlie Davies.

It took Balshaw only a minute to make amends with the first try of the game.

Robinson, under pressure from USA star Ngwenya, failed to take Yachvili's restart and the Zimbabwe-born winger slipped the ball to Balshaw who had a clear run to the line.

Yachvili added the conversion to edge Biarritz 7-6 ahead and, five minutes later, increased the lead with a penalty.

Lauret limped off after another knock-on but his departure did Wasps no favours with the visitors introducing France back-row star Imanol Harinordoquy from the bench.

Unchallenged

Robinson's third penalty cut the deficit to one point three minutes before the interval, but the French again responded quickly.

The dangerous combination of Balshaw and Ngwenya linked up once more in a move which ended with prop Van Staden squeezing in at the right-hand corner flag for a try awarded by television match official Iain Ramage.

Yachvili landed the difficult conversion from the touchline. The young Wasps, with six starters aged 21 or under, took the game to Biarritz in the second half before Yachvili's second penalty, earned as his forward forced the Wasps scrum into retreat, stretched the lead to 20-9 after 52 minutes and he added a third on the hour mark.

Wasps' efforts were rewarded with two tries in a three-minute spell.

After 62 minutes Robinson's through kick, deflected off a Biarritz player, bounced into the arms of Wade who marked his return from a three-month injury absence by racing in unchallenged.

Balshaw produced a try-saving tackle on Wasps replacement Jack Wallace but they struck again with Davies forcing his way over between the posts. Robinson converted both, and the sides were level at 23-23 but suffered the heartbreak of Yachvili's late winning kick.