Christian Wade try double sparks Wasps to a bonus point win

Sparked by two first half Christian Wade tries, Wasps claimed a vital 30-15 round 20 Aviva Premiership win over Worcester Warriors.

 30 - 15 

Sat 14th April 2018
3:00 pm

Ricoh Arena Stadium Aviva Premiership

Dai Young’s team built a 19-point interval advantage through the flying winger’s ninth and tenth scores of the season plus Joe Launchbury’s first.
They then weathered two sin-binnings before Josh Bassett swooped to clinch the try bonus point and Jamie Shilcock and Josh Adams claimed late consolations for the visitors.
Following Newcastle’s win over Sale last night and a win for Northampton over Leicester today, Wasps have reclaimed third place in the table.
And with two rounds of action remaining before the semi-finals, the Saints’ visit to the Ricoh Arena in two weeks’ time has now taken on huge significance.
After Dorian Jones missed a fifth-minute penalty from just inside his own  half, Wasps responded with a fluent backs move that sent Elliot Daly away down the left. 
He was stopped just outside the visitors’ 22 and after the ball was recycled a pass aimed for Tom Cruse went to ground.
But Wasps did soon take the lead when the ball was moved quickly from a lineout on the 22 and Juan de Jongh’s angled run gave Wade the space to go over in the corner.

The home side went close to a second ten minutes later when Launchbury combined with Cruse round the front of a lineout inside the Worcester 22 and Guy Thompson was stopped on the line. 
However, further pressure did soon yield a penalty in front of the posts and Jimmy Gopperth added the three points on offer.
A menacing Worcester attack then ended with Adams being forced into touch at the corner. But advantage was being played for a breakdown offence in midfield and Jones accepted a straightforward kick which made the score 8-3 with 14 minutes of the half remaining.
Patient build-up work from a scrum then enabled the hosts to take play through a series of phases before skipper Launchbury crashed over. 
Gopperth’s conversion gave Wasps a 15-3 advantage which they soon increased thanks to a glorious counter-attacking try. Willie Le Roux made the telling burst inside his own half and his pass sent Wade racing in for his second of the day from 40 metres.
Gopperth added a second penalty when Worcester infringed on the ground to send Dai Young’s men into the break with a 23-3 advantage.
The home side were reduced to 14 men soon after the restart when Jack Willis was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle. 

Wade then produced some impressive defensive work when he covered back to gather Ben Teo’s dangerous chip under severe pressure in the corner. And when David Denton’s powerful charge was stopped on the line, Wasps won a crucial turnover and penalty to clear the danger.
Jack Willis then returned from the sin bin, accompanied by Tommy Taylor and James Haskell, who replaced Tom Cruse and Thomas Young. Further replacements included the entry of Simon McIntyre, for his 150th appearance in black and gold.
Wasps went into the final quarter in search of a valuable bonus point, and Daly went close in the right corner, following another muscular burst by Willis. 
They then seemed to have produced the telling fourth try when Wade sent Guy Thompson to the right corner following a flowing passage of play. However, the try was disallowed when TMO review ruled Gopperth to have made a dangerous challenge in the air for which he was sent to the sin bin.
But home disappointment was short-lived, as Bassett, who had only been on the field a few minutes after replacing the excellent Le Roux, poached an interception try which Daly converted.
Enough time remained for the Warriors to claim two late scores through Shilcock and Adams.