European champions Northampton suffered a Sunday roasting at Loftus Road -
just six days before launching their defence of the Heineken Cup.
Saints slumped to a fourth defeat in five games on the road as Wasps recovered
brilliantly from last weekend's half-century hammering by Newcastle.
Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio set the scene for an embarrassingly
one-sided encounter, touching down after just seven minutes, and Wasps never
looked back.
The Londoners secured a bonus point inside an hour when lock Andy Reed
collected try number four, giving Northampton a king-sized headache ahead of
tackling Biarritz in France next Saturday.
Matt Dawson, sidelined since undergoing shoulder surgery four months ago, and
fellow injured half-back Paul Grayson cannot return quickly enough because
Saints lacked composure and control in the critical tactical contest.
In contrast, Wasps fly-half Alex King, making his first start of the season
after injury, gave a master class in controlling proceedings behind Wasps'
rampant pack.
King scored two tries and Wasps finished with seven in total, recording an
emphatic victory which lifted them to fourth in the Premiership behind leaders
Saracens, Newcastle and Leicester.
Wasps, who beat Northampton to take the Tetley's Bitter Cup at Twickenham last
season, played with a precision and purpose that left the Saints a distant
second-best.
Northampton were never in the game, trailing 24-3 at half-time and then
capitulating even further.
A second-half penalty try and wing Luca Martin's opportunist breakaway score
provided scant consolation, and rugby director John Steele is certain to demand
a massive improvement in training this week.
Wasps started at a frantic pace, hell-bent on removing that Newcastle result
from their system, and after wing Kenny Logan, who finished with 18 points, had
kicked an early penalty, Dallaglio was driven over 10 metres from a line-out.
Northampton fly-half Mark Tucker briefly reduced the arrears with a penalty,
but two further Logan strikes gave Wasps a comfortable lead inside the opening
quarter.
Northampton only briefly enjoyed territorial dominance, and Wasps effectively
took the game out of their reach through tries before the break by outstanding
flanker Paul Volley and pacy fullback Josh Lewsey.
Wasps, having done the hard work to build up such a commanding interval lead,
were in no mood to switch off after the break.
Referee Brian Campsall awarded Saints a 54th minute penalty try, but there was
no stopping the home side after that.
Reed, King and hooker Trevor Leota all claimed tries during a prolific
14-minute period, and it was King who fittingly brought up the half-century with
a seventh touchdown in injury time.
Steele is not a man to hide behind the bare statistics, and he will feel let
down by this performance even though Northampton will inevitably improve once
England international's Dawson and Grayson are available again.
Wasps, meanwhile, can now kick off their European campaign away to Swansea
next Saturday, quietly confident of making an impact from a qualifying group
that also includes French champions Stade Francais and Italian outfit L'Aquila.
Teams:
Wasps:
Tries: Dallaglio, Volley, Lewsey, Reed, King 2, Leota.
Cons: Logan 3.
Pens: Logan 4.
Wasps: Lewsey, Roiser, Denney, Henderson, Logan, King, Wood,
Molloy, Leota, Green, Reed, Shaw, Worsley, Volley, Dallaglio.
Replacements: Le Chevalier for Molloy (72),
Beardshaw for Shaw (62).
Not Used: Page, Waters, Leek, Del Valle, Macer.
Northampton:
Tries: Penalty, Martin.
Cons: Tucker 2.
Pens: Tucker.
Northampton: Webster, Martin, Bateman, Kirk, Cohen, Tucker,
Malone, Pagel, Brotherstone, Stewart, Phillips, Brouzet,
Hunter, Pountney, Lam, Scelzo.
Replacements: Bramhall for Malone (67),
Thompson for Brotherstone (67), Scelzo for Stewart (47),
Seely for Hunter (56), Rodber for Scelzo (54).
Not Used: Vass, Allan.
Att: 4,612
Ref: Brian Campsall (RFU).
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