WASPS director of rugby Tony Hanks was delighted with the pay-off for the hard work which ensured yesterday’s Heineken Cup clash with Newport Gwent Dragons went ahead.

Wasps 37 Newport Gwent Dragons 10

Newport Gwent Dragons 16 Wasps 23

TONY HANKS was beaming after Wasps completed their first Heineken Cup win in Pool Six with a bonus-point 38-26 victory over Glasgow.

Wasps 38 Glasgow 26

WASPS head coach Tony Hanks was proud of his players after the London club came close to pulling off a shock victory at the reigning Heineken Cup champions.

FAR from a bright beginning for new Leinster coach Joe Schmidt as his side were given a lesson in organisation, intensity and clinical finishing by Shaun Edwards’ London-based boys in a friendly at Donnybrook last night.

Leinster 6 London Wasps 41, Donnybrook

Wasps 15 Cardiff Blues 18

NORTHAMPTON staged the kind of second-half comeback at Wasps yesterday that their Heineken Cup opponents Munster could have done with in the RDS, but still came up short, losing 20-15.

Former UCD out-half Eoghan Hickey has signed a one year contract that will see him move from London Irish to London Wasps as back-up to Danny Cipriani and Dave Walder.

Castres 21 Wasps 15

Dan Carter admitted it felt like his “first day at school” as he led Perpignan to a 26-20 Heineken Cup victory over Leicester yesterday.

Fly-half Dave Walder produced another man-of-the-match performance as Wasps strengthened their chances of reaching the Heineken Cup quarter-finals with victory over Edinburgh.

European Challenge Cup Quarter-Finals teamsheets

JONNY WILKINSON’S faithful understudy will step into the Heineken Cup spotlight today after firing a defiant message at Newcastle’s European detractors.

Neath-Swansea Ospreys 24 Harlequins 7

Newcastle 34 Edinburgh 24

Edinburgh 13 Gwent Dragons 17

Newcastle Falcons recorded a magnificent 19-14 win over French visitors Perpignan thanks to a dominant first-half forward display.

England 12 Barbarians 32

Newcastle Falcons 15 London Irish 16

Newcastle Falcons 24 London Irish 12

TWO moments of Gallic brilliance from Thomas Castaignede and two tries from Sevens star Richard Haughton inspired Saracens to end their winter slump at Vicarage Road yesterday.

Jonny Wilkinson is expected to be fit for the start of England’s Six Nations Championship despite having his comeback from injury curtailed.

London Irish 15 Newcastle 19

ARGENTINA winger Octavio Bartolucci snapped his Achilles tendon in a club match at the weekend and is out of the World Cup.

England coach Clive Woodward today named a 43-man squad to prepare for the matches against Wales and France in August and September.

England 29, Barbarians 49

Bad weather today hampered the salvage operation on a cargo ship which sank in the English Channel taking with it £30 million of luxury cars.

A TIME bomb of almost 20 million gallons of thick oil was ticking on the bed of the Atlantic last night, threatening to swamp Spanish and Portuguese coasts with one of the world's worst ecological disasters.

The salvage company attempting to tow the vessel away from land said the 44,000 ton Prestige could split in two if weather conditions worsen.

A damaged tanker loaded with millions of barrels of fuel oil was in danger in breaking up off Spain’s north-western coast tonight.

Classy Newport completed a Heineken Cup double over Newcastle tonight as they grounded the Falcons in unceremonious fashion at Rodney Parade.

Russia has unexpectedly rejected a bid by a consortium of Dutch and Norwegian companies to help raise the sunken nuclear submarine Kursk.

Harlequins 27 Newcastle 30