A heroic defensive performance by Wasps saw them reach the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup after a thrilling and tense victory in France. Stand-out performances from the Wasps pack - in which Joe Worsley was immense and Lawrence Dallaglio close to his best - earned them not just progression through to the next round, but guarantees them a home tie too.
Yet for much of the game it was Castres who were dominant, launching attack after attack as their line-out worked nearly flawlessly. It took a long-range try from Tom Voyce to put the English side's noses ahead, but even then Castres fought back with a try to set up a memorable finish. And they could have snatched victory too, were it not for some at times almost incredible defending from Worsley, Raphael Ibanez and the rest of the Wasps pack. Their reward for their efforts will be a home tie against Leinster or Stade Francais.
The visitors, who could have qualified without a win in what has proved an enthralling group, had got off to a near-perfect start when Alex King kicked an easy penalty after two minutes. A drop goal and another penalty put them 9-0 ahead with nearly a quarter of the match gone. But the French side soon came back into the game and began to expose frailties in the Wasps backs' defence, where King was given a torrid time.
Patrick Tabacco was guaranteeing a constant flow of possession at the line-out, and only some determined tackling from the Wasps pack held them out. One tackle from Worsley on Steve Kefu, in particular, saved a certain try. Even so, the English side were finding it hard to get out of their own half and while full-back Daniel Cipriani showed touches of real brilliance with the ball in hand, some of his kicking out of hand betrayed his inexperience.
Inevitably, the Castres scores in the first half came through two Cameron McIntyre penalties. However, the Kiwi suffered a serious leg injury just before half time. His replacement, Gordon Ross, missed two difficult penalty chances that would have given them a deserved lead at the break.
The game looked like turning, however, 10 minutes after half time when scrum-half Christophe Laussucq broke through and tried to give what could have been a scoring pass. However, close to his own 22 metres line Simon Shaw batted the ball down and Ibanez scooped the ball up and fed Fraser Waters. The centre made a break and fed Tom Voyce, who ran 45 metres to score under the posts. King converted and Wasps seemed already to have one foot in the quarter-finals.
But Castres came back. Josh Lewsey was penalised for punching his opposite number after he was held back chasing a kick. From the line-out, replacement flanker Alexandre Bias was driven over and Ross's conversion put them three points behind.
The visitors, however, were beginning at last to find some rhythm to their attacking game, with Ibanez and especially replacement Dan Leo punching holes in the Castres defence. King just missed with a 35-metre attempted drop goal. Then a wonderful scything run by Cipriani came to nothing when Dominic Waldouck's pass to Voyce went forward.
Again Castres came back, launching waves of attacks in a thrilling finish. Only last-ditch tackles by Waldouck and later Dallaglio and some scrambling defence by Eoin Reddan kept the French team out. It was tough on Castres, who had played their part in a wonderful match. But Wasps will remember this special victory for some time to come.
