Easterby scare puts Llanelli Cup defeat in perspective

THE importance of winning yesterday’s Powergen Cup final was lost on Llanelli winger Mark Jones as soon as he spotted his stricken captain Simon Easterby lying prostrate on the Twickenham turf.

Easterby had smashed his head into Mark Van Gisbergen's shoulder while trying to make a tackle, swallowed his tongue and was unconscious by the time he hit the deck.

Play continued but Jones raced out of Llanelli's defensive line and put Easterby into the recovery position before screaming for assistance.

Paramedics came to Easterby's aid and he recovered sufficiently to watch the second half from the bench, but the close call yet another in a bruising season for Easterby put Llanelli's 26-10 defeat to Wasps into perspective.

"He was blue when I got there," revealed Jones.

"It was a pretty scary thing. I saw the tackle and I knew instinctively he would be unconscious.

"If you know Simon, you know he doesn't lie on the floor. After a few seconds I could see he wasn't moving so that was a concern. I put him on his side, I was just looking to help.

"He is a good friend of mine and as far as I am concerned Wasps could have scored three tries while I was dealing with Simon. It is life at the end of the day.

"They were playing on and I screamed for attention three or four times. I am just pleased he is okay."

Easterby has not had much luck playing Wasps, having split his eye-lid and scraped his eye-ball during the Scarlets' Heineken Cup defeat at the Causeway Stadium earlier this season.

"He plays the game right on the edge and he has just caught a couple of bad ones this year. His wife and his family must be going mental," said Jones.

"I am going to have to give him some stick for causing such a palaver!"

The final was marred by the first-half injuries to Easterby and his Ireland team-mate Johnny O'Connor, the Wasps flanker who was stretchered off in the first minute.

O'Connor was sent for a precautionary X-ray after crashing head-first into an Alix Popham tackle but is expected to make a full recovery. In his absence Wasps added the Powergen Cup to three Guinness Premiership titles and a Heineken Cup they have won in a run of five successive Twickenham victories.

Wasps were far from their fluent best, but Llanelli could not take advantage despite taking an early lead after a superb finish from Barry Davies.

Wasps hit back to seal the win with two tries from England winger Tom Voyce, 13 points from Mark Van Gisbergen and a late Alex King drop goal. A third Irish participant had to withdraw from the game in the 56th minute when referee Alan Lewis pulled a calf muscle and had to leave the field, leaving the whistle to Simon McDowell.