Bonus point win over Tigers puts Wasps back in third place
Wasps ended a run of four successive defeats against Leicester and reclaimed third place in the Premiership with an emphatic bonus-point win in front of a large crowd and in perfect conditions for attacking rugby.
They scored five outstanding tries, two of them from MOTM Charles Piutau. The result means Wasps are now three points ahead of Leicester, who came close to claiming two bonus points with a last-ditch attempt for a fourth try in the final play of the game.
Wasps went ahead in the second minute, after Christian Wade had gathered a stray pass just outside his 22. He came infield and fed Charles Piutau, who stormed through a gap and took play up to the Tigers’ 22. Wasps had men free on the outside, but a stray Leicester hand prevented them winning quick ball at the breakdown and Jimmy Gopperth had a straightforward kick to open the scoring.
After eight minutes, it was Piutau who stretched the lead with a well-constructed try, after Wasps had won a lineout on the Leicester 22. The ball was moved infield, Ashley Johnson (in his 100th game for Wasps) smashed his way over the gainline and quick ball was moved out to the right, where Piutau powered over near the right corner. Gopperth was unable to add the extra points.
When Leicester finally got their hands on the ball for a series of phases, the Wasps defence drove them back from the 22 to halfway, before Siale Piutau stole the ball as it squirted out of the breakdown.
Wasps were looking confident, with their ball carriers regularly crossing the gainline and Gopperth sending some well-directed kicks into Tigers territory, but it was the visitors who scored next, with a Freddie Burns penalty from near halfway, after Wasps transgressed at a scrum on 20 minutes.
Three minutes later, Leicester went ahead, after Christian Wade gathered a high kick on his 22, out near the right touchline. He came infield and threw a long pass, which was intercepted by Peter Betham, who went over between the posts. Burns added the simple conversion, to make the score 10-8 to visitors.
Wade made up for his error two minutes later, when he leapt above Vereniki Goneva to gather Gopperth’s cross-kick a few metres from the right corner and cross for his third try in three games. Gopperth’s conversion put Wasps 15-10 ahead.
Eleven minutes before halftime, the Piutau brothers combined with devastating effect, as Siale took Gopperth’s flat pass to break the line and send Charles in for his second try, near the posts. Gopperth had another simple conversion, to stretch the lead to 22-10. The fly-half was narrowly off-target with a long-range penalty attempt, two minutes before the break. Then, seconds before the interval, Leicester’s Adam Thompstone went over in the right corner, but the final pass was judged to have gone forward and the halftime score stood at 22-10 to Wasps.
After just over a minute of the second half, Wasps secured the bonus point with a glorious try, begun by quick hands just inside their own half. Ashley Johnson was involved, as the ball was moved out to the left, in the narrowest of space near the touchline. It reached Frank Halai, who cut infield and outpaced the defence to run in from 30 metres, for his 8th Premiership try of the season. Gopperth again landed the conversion, to extend the Wasps advantage to 29-10. He then suffered an eye injury and was replaced by Alex Lozowski.
Leicester responded strongly, after a penalty to the corner set up a lineout and a powerful drive for the line. The ball was released and moved across the field, with a deft overhead flick reaching Telusa Veainu, who went over near the corner. Freddie Burns’ conversion narrowed the gap to 12 points, at 29-17.
After 62 minutes, Wasps produced another memorable try, started by a powerful run from Sam Jones, down the middle of the field. When he was stopped, quick ball was won, George Smith broke the line and Nathan Hughes, who’d replaced Thomas Young, powered over near the left corner. Alex Lozowski landed a fine kick, to make the score 36-17.
Wasps then suffered an injury blow, when George Smith landed heavily after a mid-air collision. After a lengthy break in play, the Wasps captain left the field. The stretcher had been prepared, but the crowd was relieved to see him get to his feet and depart without assistance. This meant that the final Wasps replacement, Jamie Stevenson, was brought into the back row, for the final 15 minutes.
Leicester came close to a third try, six minutes from time, after a move down the left, only to be denied by an interception by Christian Wade, a few metres from the line. With three minutes left, Vereniki Goneva went over in the corner. Burns converted, to make the score 36-24, meaning that another try would secure two bonus points. They got their chance, seconds from time, with a penalty to the corner. The drive was repulsed and the defence then withstood a series of surges for the line, before a turnover was won, and the game ended with Wasps three points clear of their rivals in the table, back in third place in the Aviva Premiership.
Wasps Line ups
- Simon McIntyre
- Ashley Johnson
- Jake Cooper-Woolley
- James Cannon
- Kearnan Myall
- Thomas Young
- George Smith
- Sam Jones
- Dan Robson
- Jimmy Gopperth
- Frank Halai
- Siale Piutau
- Charles Piutau
- Christian Wade
- Rob Miller
- Ed Shervington
- Matt Mullan
- Phil Swainston
- Will Rowlands
- Nathan Hughes
- Jamie Stevenson
- Alex Lozowski
- Brendan Macken
Leicester Tigers Line ups
- Marcos Ayerza
- Harry Thacker
- Logovi'i Mulipola
- Michael Fitzgerald
- Dominic Barrow
- Tom Croft
- Lachlan McCaffrey
- Ed Slater
- Jono Kitto
- Freddie Burns
- Vereniki Goneva
- Matt Smith
- Peter Betham
- Adam Thompstone
- Mathew Tait
- Michael Van Vuuren
- Ellis Genge
- Fraser Balmain
- Graham Kitchener
- Mike Williams
- George Tresidder
- Owen Williams
- Telusa Veainu
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