Wasps 33 Gloucester 12: Leo rescue of Wasps no solace for Ashton

The M4 was in unusually conciliatory mood yesterday as the West country hordes - hundreds of Gloucester supporters from the dark depths of Kingsholm territory plus the new England head coach from his house on the hills surrounding Bath - made the relatively brief but rarely uncomplicated trip to High Wycombe. That was the good news. The bad news for Brian Ashton surrounded a batch of new generation international contenders, too few of whom caught the eye for anything like the right reasons; an influential old-stager who broke down with yet another injury; and a certain Daniel Leo, by some distance the most influential performer on view.

Leo did everything right in attack and defence for 63 minutes before giving way to a chap by the name of Lawrence Dallaglio. Leo rescued a fragile Wasps line-out from collapse, he tackled like a Trojan, he carried the ball into the heart of Gloucester's supposedly mean-minded forward pack, he supported his outside backs. One way or another, he was outstanding. Sadly for Ashton, Leo is Samoan, and will stay Samoan for the rest of his natural. England would kill for him right now, but he will never be theirs.

Phil Vickery is very much English; indeed, he is a stone-cold certainty to play a leading role in the forthcoming Six Nations Championship, possibly as captain. Or rather, he was. As the most orthopaedically challenged prop of the professional era - three back operations, a bout of neck surgery, a busted forearm - Vickery badly wanted to put on a show against his old club here. Unfortunately, he was off the field just past the half-hour. His latest injury, popularly diagnosed as a numb bum, was not of the usual magnitude, but after so many lengthy breaks from the game, the last thing he needed was another interruption.

Wasps were 12 points up when he departed and had done more than enough to suggest that Gloucester's chances of returning to top spot in the Guinness Premiership were on the telescopic side of remote. The visitors were not short of possession, and they shaded the early territorial argument, yet there was only one team in it when he came to seizing opportunities.

Paul Sackey opened their account with a blinder after 14 minutes, capitalising on the good running lines and precise distribution of Joe Worsley and Mark van Gisbergen, while Tom Palmer made it over after a second surge from a driving line-out. All Gloucester had created were two open doors for Luke Narraway, both of them slammed shut by Worsley. Within three minutes of Vickery's departure, Palmer was at it again, this time charging down Willie Walker's attempted clearance, collecting the ball on the full and clawing his way to the line as the tacklers converged on him.

"It was Tom's best game in a Wasps shirt," his director of rugby, Ian McGeechan, enthused. "We all know about his mobility. I've been critical of some of his tight work, but that's beginning to happen too. Is he right for England? You'll have to ask Brian Ashton, but I think he's playing some good stuff." Some of the other contenders for a role on Calcutta Cup day early in February - Iain Balshaw and James Simpson-Daniel, Mike Tindall and Peter Richards - were too quiet by half, although there were some encouraging flashes of inspiration from James Forrester, whose break from the base of a scrum earned Rory Lawson a try midway through the third quarter, the last score before the ritual exchange of points in the final few minutes. But by that time Leo, all legs and electric-shock hair, had poured gallons of cold water on Gloucester's ambitions.

"Dan is an exciting player, the kind of player who puts bums on seats," said McGeechan's sidekick, Shaun Edwards. He has certainly put Dallaglio's esteemed rear end on a seat, of the kind reserved for those who cannot make the starting line-up. It is no mean achievement to cramp the former England captain's style to this degree. Samoa may still be short of money, but when Leo roars like this, the islanders have no reason to despair.

Wasps: Tries Palmer 2, Sackey, Voyce, Haskell; Conversions King 3, Cipriani. Gloucester: Tries Lawson, Allen; Conversion: Lamb.

Wasps: M Van Gisbergen; P Sackey, D Waldouck, J Lewsey, T Voyce; A King (capt, D Cipriani, 75), S Amor (E Reddan, 60); T Payne, R Ibanez (J Ward, 68), P Vickery (P Bracken, 32), M Purdy (G Skivington, 75), T Palmer, D Leo (L Dallaglio, 63), J O'Connor (J Haskell, 63), J Worsley.

Gloucester: I Balshaw; J Simpson-Daniel, M Tindall, A Allen, M Foster (O Morgan, 72); W Walker (R Lamb, 53), P Richards (R Lawson 53); P Collazo (C Nieto, 48), O Azam (M Davies, 60), C Califano, M Bortolami (capt, A Eustace, 78), A Brown, P Buxton (Collazo, 70-82), A Hazell, L Narraway (J Forrester, 48).

Referee: W Barnes (Gloucestershire).