London Wasps galloped to a commanding victory over lacklustre London Irish
on Sunday - grabbing a crucial bonus point along the way.
The latest triumph - Wasps' third in five outings - keeps them in contention
at the top of the Zurich Premiership table, while London Irish must go back to
the drawing board with only one win under their belt this term.
The visitors started the game as they meant to go on with Alex King converting
an early ninth-minute penalty.
Paul Sampson put Wasps further ahead with an 11th-minute try. Scrum-half Rob
Howley had taken a penalty which Sampson kicked ahead before charging down to
score.
King converted and Wasps continued to dominate proceedings with a second try
on the half-hour.
This time it was the turn of Howley who broke loose from a ruck to scamper
over the try-line.
Again King converted before winger Shane Roiser added insult to injury with a
third converted try to the Exiles' duck.
And it was a well-deserved score with the visitors running circles around
London Irish's defence. Roiser was the man to score but several of Warren
Gatland's men came close.
London Irish were still without a score following a third missed penalty by
last season's top points scorer Barry Everitt, while Wasps charged on to secure
a bonus point thanks to forward Craig Dowd's try. King was as consistent as ever
with the boot, stretching Wasps' lead 31-0 with a conversion.
But London Irish finally broke the deadlock on the hour as Mike Worsley
muscled his way over the try-line. Everitt this time made no mistake with the
boot and converted.
Fellow forward Declan Danaher then significantly reduced the deficit with two
converted tries in the dying minutes of the game but his efforts came too late
for London Irish to take much comfort out of the result.
London Irish:
Tries: Worsley, Danaher 2.
Cons: Everitt 3.
London Irish: Horak, Sackey,
Burrows, Appleford, Bishop,
Everitt, Edwards, Hatley, Drotske, Hardwick, Strudwick, Casey,
Danaher, Dawson, Gustard.
Not Used: Barrett, Mapletoft, Cockle, Flavin, Burke, Worsley,
Durant.
Wasps:
Tries: Sampson, Howley, Roiser, Dowd.
Cons: A. King 4.
Pens: A. King.
Wasps: Sampson, Roiser, Abbott, Denney, Lewsey, A. King,
Howley, Dowd, Greening, W. Green, Shaw, Birkett, Worsley,
Volley, Dallaglio.
Not Used: Wood, van Gisbergen, Logan, Gotting, Molloy,
Beardshaw, McCarthy.
Att: 9,267
Ref: Alain Rolland (Ireland).