SALFORD City Reds, Leicester,
Berlin Thunder, London Wasps. Neil Baxter has an
eclectic CV for a man about to turn 23, but the
wing may settle down after two tries on trial
helped his new club to keep pace with Sale
Sharks at the top of the Guinness Premiership.
After playing for two minutes as a
replacement the previous weekend, it was
Baxter’s first start. He has scorching pace and
that elusive quality that thrills crowds
whenever he gets the ball.
Asked about Baxter, Ian McGeechan, the
director of rugby, said: “He’s with us. Full
stop.” Baxter was as skilled off the field as he
paid tribute to Rob Hoadley, the man who had
moved from wing to centre to accommodate him,
for drawing his man and creating the space for
both his tries.
Baxter, from Salford,
started his career with Salford City Reds in
rugby league. He joined Leicester for the
2003-04 season, but ended up playing American
football in NFL Europe with Berlin Thunder.
He has been training with Wasps for a month
after Martin Offiah, who played for Salford,
recommended him to Shaun Edwards, the Wasps
coach who is Offiah’s former Wigan and Great
Britain rugby league colleague. “Martin said he
was a lost soul who needed a home and he’s
certainly repaid us tonight,” Edwards said.
Wasps were worth their third consecutive
victory in the Premiership. Bath, by contrast,
played a typically limited game and are not
enjoying this month without six England players.
Michael Lipman had given them an early lead
after a Wasps lineout throw five metres out
missed the man at the back. Despite a
territorial edge and Bath losing a man to the
sin-bin, Wasps were lucky to go in 11-11 at
half-time after Jeremy Staunton bought a late
penalty with a dive.
Chris Malone gave Bath the lead after the
break but Baxter followed his try in the ninth
minute with an even better one after Hoadley
broke the line from Tom Voyce’s inside pass.
In contrast to their past two visits in the
league, when they had bullied the Wasps pack to
win, Bath could not control the game in the
second half. Yet Malone kept them in the hunt
with four penalties, and a dropped goal from 45
metres in the 62nd minute gave Bath a 20-18
lead.
Bath actually won the ten minutes that Lipman
was in the sin-bin for killing the ball, 6-0,
but, after a penalty to take the lead, Wasps
made sure when Voyce touched down after Lawrence
Dallaglio went blind from a close-range scrum.
SCORERS: London Wasps: Tries: Baxter 2
(9, 51), Voyce (73). Conversions:
Staunton. King. Penalty goals: Staunton 2
(21, 40+2), King (70). Bath: Try: Lipman
(16). Penalty goals: Malone 4 (12, 32,
42, 58). Dropped goal: Malone (62).
SCORING SEQUENCE (London Wasps first):
5-0, 5-3, 5-8, 8-8, 8-11, 11-11 (half-time)
11-14, 18-14, 18-17, 18-20, 21-20, 28-20.
LONDON WASPS: T Voyce; P Sackey, A
Erinle, R Hoadley, N Baxter; J Staunton (rep: A
King, 63), E Reddan; T Payne, J Ward, J Dawson
(rep: P Bracken, 61), S Shaw, G Skivington (rep:
R Birkett, 61), J Hart, T Rees, L Dallaglio.
