Pool Five/Wasps 25 Clermont Auvergne 24:Rarely have the winners of a classic match looked so furious. Visiting Munster on the final weekend of pool matches needing a four-try victory is a bleak midwinter prospect, and Wasps must now also rely on the generosity of Clermont.
If the defending champions play as they did in a mesmeric first half anything is possible, but the fallout from this extraordinary night could be very messy.
The sight of one of Wasps' stalwart club members, former captain Alan Black, attempting to whack an opposing player with a rolled-up programme just about summed up an evening of baffling twists and turns.
A public spat even took place between the coach Shaun Edwards and the chief executive Tony Copsey after Edwards objected to Copsey's view that, pending an inquiry, Black, the Rugby Football Union's leisure rugby manager, could conceivably face a life ban.
The latter issued an abject apology yesterday but Lawrence Dallaglio spoke darkly of "selfish" players, and the England captain Phil Vickery's omission on disciplinary grounds also hung uneasily in the air. Wasps are normally such a close-knit club that the visible tensions were all the more noticeable.
What will sting Wasps most, however, is the way they squandered a potential pre-Christmas bonus through a mixture of profligacy - at least five try-scoring chances went begging - and two seismic match official calls.
Had Clermont's Jamie Cudmore received a justifiable red card rather than a faint-hearted yellow for the punches he rained down on Tim Payne, it would surely have influenced the outcome. Likewise, as Riki Flutey attempted a lobbed pass towards a posse of unmarked attackers on the right, it appeared to be deliberately deflected forward by a French hand. Only a knock-on was given.
The normally phlegmatic Ian McGeechan could not contain his frustration. "We've had two pretty rough decisions against us in two games. People talk about swings and roundabouts. We're just hoping for the roundabouts to come around."
Interwoven into the whole crazy tapestry, however, was one spectacular golden thread. Danny Cipriani was among those implicated in Clermont's revival from 22-3 down at half-time but for 40 minutes he gave one of the most glittering displays of attacking outhalf play in recent years. Time after time the 20-year-old shredded Clermont with gliding pace and an eye for a gap, prompting the man from the French rugby paper Midi Olympique to exhale loudly and hail "the English Michalak". He's better than that, was the chorus back.
But then bad Mr Hyde made his costly appearance. Cipriani's misjudged cross-kick towards the left flank was duly returned 75 metres upfield by the grateful visiting captain Aurelien Rougerie for the score which altered the momentum of the game.
Cipriani was also turned over prior to the dazzling 80-metre solo effort from Filimoni Delasau, reinforcing the Fijian's reputation as one of the game's most sublime runners.
Cipriani's Christmas card from Dallaglio will contain few seasonal pleasantries. "Someone in the stadium gave him man of the match but there'll be one or two things he'll do differently next time," growled Dallaglio, making no secret of his anger at his team's failure to be more Scrooge-like as Clermont rode their second-half good fortune.
Talent on such a scale as Cipriani's, however, is impossible to ignore. Playing for England must now be a question of when rather than if. "It's been in my head since I was 15," he said afterwards. "I've been thinking about it for a long time and I do feel ready." Whether Wasps will still be alive in Europe when England meet Wales on February 2nd is another matter.
LONDON WASPS: Lewsey; Sackey, Waters, Flutey, Voyce; Cipriani, Reddan; Payne, Ibanez, Adams, Shaw, Skivington, Haskell, Rees, Dallaglio (capt). Replacements: Van Gisbergen for Lewsey (29 mins); French for Adams (60 mins); Leo for Haskell (66 mins)
CLERMONT AUVERGNE: Bai; Rougerie (capt), Esterhuizen, Garcia, Malzieu; King, Mignoni; Emmanuelli, Smit, Scelzo, Jacquet, Samson, Cudmore, Alexandre, Vermeulen. Replacements: Etien for Alexandre (46 mins); Ledesma for Scelzo, Vigiouroux for Samson (both 60 mins); Delasau for Rougerie (63 mins); Chanal for Garcia (66 mins)
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).
