Leinster earned a losing bonus point in a 19-12 defeat, but could have almost snatched victory against a stubborn Wasps side at Twickenham on Saturday night…Michael Cheika Post Match Reaction…

Speaking after the game, Leinster Coach Michael Cheika said: “There were a lot of different permutations during the game, but it was a really torrid encounter, to say the least.

“CJ (van der Linde) hurt his foot again, while Stan Wright has a neck problem and it looks like Leo (Cullen) hurt the same shoulder again. At this stage we don’t know if there’s a dislocation, but we’ll assess him in the coming days.”

Danny Cipriani kick the hosts into an early 3-0 lead, before French wing forward Serge Betsen snuck over for a try in the 14th minute, which Cipriani slotted home, to give Wasps a 10-0 lead.

Leinster dug deep and Felipe Contepomi kicked a 19th minute penalty, though Cipriani regained the 10-point advantage moments later with his second penalty of the evening.

Buoyed by a sizable proportion of the 33,282 capacity, Leinster added two more penalties from the boot of Contepomi (33 and 40 minutes) to reduce the deficit to 13-9 at the interval.

The game ebbed and flowed in the second half and Cipriani added a 59th minute effort to edge his side into a seven point lead before Contepomi again struck back with his 12th point of the evening.

Substitute fly-half Dave Walder kicked a late penalty, but Leinster showed resilience to hold on for what could be an important bonus point ahead of the visit of Edinburgh to the RDS next weekend.

WASPS SCORERS: S. Betsen (1 try), D. Cipriani (3 penalties, 1 conversion), D. Walder (1 penalty)

LEINSTER SCORER: F. Contepomi (4 penalties)

LONDON WASPS:

15: Mark Van Gisbergen
14: Paul Sackey
13: Dominic Waldouck
12: Riki Flutey
11: Josh Lewsey
10: Danny Cipriani
9: Eoin Reddan

1: Tim Payne
2: Rob Webber
3: Phil Vickery CAPTAIN
4: George Skivington
5: Richard Birkett
6: Joe Worsley
7: Serge Betsen
8: James Haskell

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Joe Ward
17: Tom French
18: Hugo Ellis
19: Dan Leo
20: Joe Simpson
21: Dave Walder
22: Tom Voyce

LEINSTER:

15: Rob Kearney
14: Shane Horgan (Brian O’Driscoll, 60)
13: Brian O’Driscoll (Gordon D’Arcy 56, blood)
12: Felipe Contepomi
11: Luke Fitzgerald
10: Isa Nacewa (Girvan Dempsey, 79)
9: Chris Whitaker

1: Stan Wright (Sean O’Brien, 37)
2: Bernard Jackman (John Fogarty, 73)
3: CJ van der Linde (Cian Healy, 17)
4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN (Trevor Hogan, 17)
5: Malcolm O’Kelly
6: Rocky Elsom
7: Shane Jennings
8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENT NOT USED: Chris Keane

REFEREE: Christophe Berdos (F), ASSISTANT REFEREES: Jean Luc Rebollal (F), Patrick Bellet (F), 4th OFFICIAL: Stuart Terheege, 5th OFFICIAL: Malcolm Sinclair, TMO: Daniel Gillet (F)