Jones: Welsh had 'great' 2012
Despite their lowly 10th place on the Premiership table, London Welsh head coach Lyn Jones hailed 2012 as a great year for the club.
The year ended on a sour note for the Exiles as they blew a 12-6 half-time lead to go down 34-15 to a resurgent London Wasps side at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday.
The Exiles looked to be in control at the break but Joe Simpson's individual try sparked a London Welsh collapse and earned the visitors their first away win in the Premiership since October 2011.
Wasps ran in four second-half tries through Simpson, Elliot Daly, Will Taylor and Tom Varndell to destroy any hope of Jones' side earning a losing bonus point, leaving the Exiles boss to look back on an incredible 2012.
"Throughout the year you get highs and you get lows, and this is a low for us," said Jones. "There's a lot of disappointment in the changing room because we turned it around 12-6 and we were quite buoyed at the half.
"We derailed in the second half. We started to chase the game, lost field position and some absolutely needless penalties given away.
"We decided before the game that we would take the points – we've had too many games when we've put teams down to scrum and lost the ball. When we got the chance to get something out of the game we wanted to take it.
"But 2012 has been a great year for London Welsh. We started on January 2 against Rotherham in gale force winds. To achieve what we have, it's been a historic year for the club."
Wasps' director of rugby Dai Young was pleased with his team’s second-half showing and relieved that they ended their winless run on the road.
"Second half they played with the quality I demanded from them, and then I always had confidence that our wide threats would do the damage for us," he said.
"It's great to be in the top six now but I'd rather be there at the end of the season. There's a long way to go, but if you'd have told me at the start of the year that we would be where we are now, I would have snapped your hand off.
"Finally getting the away win – it wasn't a monkey off my back because every game we've played, except Northampton, we've got a bonus point.”
Young had special praise for Simpson and his match-altering solo try.
"I don't see many other scrumhalves scoring that try. He's [Simpson] got some wheels on him, and when you give him the ball he'll find a way to get to that line. And that probably was the turning point of the game."
