Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...

Wasps 38-30 London Irish: Clinical attack helps Wasps beat Exiles

Written by 
Published in Rugby
Sunday, 26 December 2021 10:25

A clinical Wasps attack helped them beat London Irish 38-30 in an entertaining Premiership match.

Two early tries helped Wasps build a 14-3 lead before Ollie Hassell-Collins' pace enabled the winger to go over unopposed to keep Irish in the game.

Hooker Dan Frost twice crashed over for Wasps, either side of a brace by his opposite number Agustin Creevy.

Irish missed four conversions which gave Wasps breathing space to secure a much-needed fourth win of the season.

Victory moved them up to eighth in the table, a place and three points behind the Exiles.

An early Paddy Jackson penalty put Irish in front, only for Ali Crossdale's explosive break down the left to give the home side the first try moments later.

Crossdale was tackled just short of the line but momentum took the full-back over, and Les Kiss' side again cursed their luck when loose play resulted in a knock-on and Frost opportunistically touched the ball down.

Hassell-Collins responded by pulling Wasps out of shape with electric speed, with Jackson's missed conversion keeping the score at 14-8.

Jimmy Gopperth's kicking was more consistent as he scored a penalty, before converting after Alfie Barbeary sucked in visiting defenders following a maul to score on the blind side.

Just as Wasps looked comfortable, Creevy scored from close range and then pushed his way over following a great drive to trail 25-18 at the break.

Frost then got his sixth try in six appearances for the club to earn a bonus point with an easy fall over the line, before another Gopperth penalty extended the home side's lead to 17 points with an hour played.

Irish substitute hooker Tadgh McElroy hoped to set up a tense finish when he grabbed a try, but those hopes were crushed when team-mate Curtis Rona had a try ruled out for an obstruction.

Wasps fly-half Jacob Umaga was shown a red card for a high tackle and the man advantage helped Ben White score, but with only two minutes left on the clock, the home side were undeterred.

Wasps head coach Lee Blackett told BBC CWR:

"Delighted with the result. There are plenty of things we could work on as well.

"The positive thing is we got five points - much needed.

"We obviously made a couple of errors early on. I thought we scrapped pretty well though, to keep them out.

"Our forwards had a good day. We took our chances and 38 points in actually quite difficult conditions out there - it is quite greasy - I didn't see that sort of scoreline before the game."

London Irish director of rugby Declan Kidney said:

"All credit to Wasps, they won a few of the pressure points, they won the breakdown area and one or two other areas.

"That put us under pressure and they came away with the points.

"We probably had our chances as well. These things are always on tight margins - we've won games like that before and lost games like that before and we just have to get better at not losing them.

"You can talk about different turning points over the course of the game and Wasps definitely won more of those today than we did."

Wasps: Crossdale; Hougaard, Bassett, Gopperth, Mehson; Umaga, Wolstenholme; West, Frost, Alo, Fifita, Stooke, Barbeary, Shields (capt), Young.

Replacements: Cruse, Martinez, Toomaga-Allen, Cardall, Young, Porter, Le Bourgeois, Kibirige.

London Irish: Parton; Rowe, Rona, Van Rensburg, Hassell-Collins; Jackson, Phipps; Goodrick-Clarke, Creevy, Hoskins, Mafi, Simmons, Rogerson (capt), Pearson, Cracknell.

Replacements: McElroy, Dell, Van der Merwe, Nott, Gonzalez, White, Williams, Cinti.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys.

Read 181 times

Soccer

De Zerbi to leave Brighton at the end of the season

De Zerbi to leave Brighton at the end of the season

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsBrighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi will leave the club after thei...

Mbappé not in PSG squad for last Ligue 1 match

Mbappé not in PSG squad for last Ligue 1 match

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsKylian Mbappé has been left out of the Paris Saint-Germain squad th...

Messi returns as Miami strikes late to beat D.C.

Messi returns as Miami strikes late to beat D.C.

Lionel Messi returned to the starting lineup as Inter Miami struck late to beat D.C. United 1-0 than...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

2024 PARIS OLYMPIC


Basketball

Murray 'feels great', 'hungry' for big Game 7

Murray 'feels great', 'hungry' for big Game 7

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsDENVER -- Nuggets star guard Jamal Murray is "feeling great" and we...

Sources: Anunoby, Hart pushing to make Game 7

Sources: Anunoby, Hart pushing to make Game 7

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsNew York Knicks forward OG Anunoby, out since Game 2 of the Eastern...

Baseball

Mets' Diaz open to change in role amid struggles

Mets' Diaz open to change in role amid struggles

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsMIAMI -- Edwin Diaz is open to a change to help ignite the slumping...

Gil sets Yanks' rookie record; Soto mashes 2 HRs

Gil sets Yanks' rookie record; Soto mashes 2 HRs

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsNEW YORK -- The Yankees waxed the White Sox 6-1 on Saturday to earn...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated