Woeful Wasps crashed to their second successive Premiership home defeat as
four-try Bath cut loose in the Loftus Road sunshine.
After coming unstuck during injury time against league champions Leicester
last weekend, Wasps suffered a comprehensive beating this time at the hands of a
side quicker in thought and deed.
Bath bounced back from a one-point loss at Sale to tear Wasps - rudderless
without injured captain Lawrence Dallaglio and fly-half Alex King - apart.
A maximum five-point haul - bonus points included - underlined the gulf in
class as Ben Clarke, Nathan Thomas, Kevin Maggs, and Mike Tindall all claimed
touchdowns.
Scrum-half Jon Preston kicked 16 points landing six from eight shots at goal,
leaving Wasps a desolate, dispirited outfit.
A Kenny Logan penalty hat-trick only briefly threatened Bath, who showed
greater pace and creativity.
Once again, the Wasps line-out failed to function - England hooker Phil
Greening often missing his target jumper - and Bath gratefully accepted the
gifts that came their way.
Greening is an outstanding all-round footballer, but on this occasion his
impressions at various times of a fly-half, centre and wing, hardly helped
Wasps' cause when some of his technical forward play was well below standard.
Greening's England colleague Simon Shaw summed up Wasps' afternoon when he
kicked a last-minute drop goal, blissfully ignoring three players outside him as
a try looked on the cards.
Logan kicked Wasps into an early 6-0 lead - referee Steve Lander stamping his
mark on proceedings by awarding nine penalties in as many minutes - but once
Bath captain Clarke muscled his way over from close range, the visitors never
looked back.
Bath always threatened through their back division, with Maggs and wing
Adedayo Adebayo making outstanding contributions, but Wasps were still in
contention at half-time, trailing just 10-6.
Bath though, needed just 30 seconds of the second period to extend that
advantage, full-back Matt Perry and wing Rob Philby combining to send Welsh
international forward Thomas galloping clear.
The writing was on the wall for Wasps at this stage, and although Logan
reduced the arrears to 15-9, two more Preston penalties reaffirmed Bath's
dominance.
The final quarter proved one-way traffic, Wasps falling behind the pace and
leaving increasingly large gaps for Bath's dangerous attackers to exploit.
Maggs and his fellow centre Tindall rounded off some slick handling work
before Preston's fourth penalty completed a thoroughly satisfying afternoon's
work for the west country club.
The likes of Dallaglio and King cannot return soon enough, but Bath, in
contrast, are up and running and clearly a threat to any of their Premiership
rivals.
Teams:
Wasps: Lewsey, Roiser, Waters, Denney, Logan, Leek, Wood,
Molloy, Greening, Green, Reed, Shaw, Birkett, Volley, Worsley.
Replacements: Scrase for Waters (76),
Le Chevalier for Molloy (66), Macer for Greening (75),
Lock for Reed (76), Beardshaw for Birkett (57).
Not Used: Page, Sampson.
Pens: Logan 3.
Drop Goals: Shaw.
Bath: Perry, Thirlby, Maggs, Tindall, A. Adebayo, Catt,
Preston, Barnes, Regan, Mallett, Haag, Borthwick, G. Thomas,
Clarke, N. Thomas.
Replacements: Horsman for Mallett (75),
Gardiner for G. Thomas (75).
Tries: Clarke, G. Thomas, Maggs, Tindall.
Cons: Preston 2.
Pens: Preston 4.
Not Used: Cooper, Long, Berne, Guscott.
Att: 4,037
Ref: Steve Lander (RFU).
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