Toulon 15 - 11 Wasps match report: Wasps ‘heartbroken’ after Toulon prevail with last-minute try

Ecstasy turned to agony for Wasps after they came within seconds of a historic win and a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup yesterday.

As the clock ticked into the red, Wasps led the holders and three-times champions Toulon 11-8. But any doubts as to whether rugby’s equivalent of Real Madrid’s galacticos were worthy of their name – not to mention their bumper wage packets – were blown away by their final efforts.

Wasps’ defence had been, at times, heroic – and at the forefront of that display was their scrum-half Joe Simpson. He had denied Bryan Habana an early score and was still at it in the closing stages when he snuffed out a threatening position with a clattering tackle on the considerably larger frame of the No 8 Duane Vermeulen.

But he took a knock in doing so, which could explain why his subsequent box kick sailed out on the full and handed Toulon an attacking line-out and one last, desperate, chance to snatch victory.

Toulon kept the ball with ruthless efficiency and Wasps were unwilling to contest too vehemently at the breakdown for fear of conceding a penalty. But eventually they ran out defenders and Drew Mitchell’s predatory instincts led him to pick a devastating angle on to Ma’a Nonu’s short pass to gallop past Ruaridh Jackson for the match-winning try.

The Wasps head coach, David Young, said: “I’m really gutted for the players, I’m heartbroken for them. I couldn’t have asked more of them, we didn’t want to leave here with any ifs, buts or maybes and I thought they were excellent. It just would have been nice to come away with a really famous victory.”

A win would have clinched top spot in Pool Five and guaranteed them a place in the quarter-finals. Now they must hope Bath, who suffered similar late heartache here seven days ago, can take points off the French side at the Recreation Ground next weekend, while Wasps welcome Leinster to the Ricoh Arena.

Young said: “We know it’s going to be difficult, beating Leinster once is one thing, but to beat them twice would be a major step forward. Hopefully, we can finish the job next week.”

Habana sparked a counter-attack that ended with Quade Cooper scoring the game’s first try on 13 minutes. Nonu released Josua Tuisova, who made plenty of yards before handing the scoring pass inside to Cooper.

Wasps were then reduced to 14 men when George Smith was shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Habana and Escande kicked Toulon 8-0 ahead. Jimmy Gopperth clawed back three points before half-time and Wasps’ defence was heroic at times in the second half, limiting Toulon to a drop goal that Cooper hooked from wide.

Frédéric Michalak cut the lead to two points on 63 minutes but a shock looked on the cards when Elliot Daly sped past Nonu and Michalak before Guy Thompson barged through Juan Smith and Vermeulen to score in the corner.

But the holders showed their class at the end.