Aviva Premiership: Wasps move third after win over Leicester
Last Updated: 12/03/16 5:53pm
Wasps saw off Leicester 36-24 at the Ricoh Arena to move into third place in the Aviva Premiership standings.
Dai Young's side scored five tries in a bonus-point win, including three in the first half, to leapfrog the Tigers, who had no answer to the all-out attack.
Man of the match Charles Piutau scored two, with the other scores provided by Christian Wade, Frank Halai and Nathan Hughes. Peter Betham, Telusa Veainu and Vereniki Goneva replied for Leicester, who finished strongly but were well beaten in the end.
Wasps, whose six-match Premiership winning streak was ended by Gloucester last week, ripped Leicester apart in a frenetic first half and went into the break with a 22-10 lead.
Wasps led 8-0 after just nine minutes thanks to a penalty from fly-half Jimmy Gopperth, who then missed the conversion attempt after Piutau's first try.
A 21st-minute penalty from Freddie Burns put Leicester back in it and two minutes later they were ahead after Betham intercepted a pass by Wade to race clear for the score. Three minutes later Wade beat Goneva to a cross-kick from Gopperth, who added the conversion.
Leicester had hardly caught their breath when they were watching Piutau go under the posts after a great break from his brother, Siale.
Right on half-time, Leicester winger Adam Thompstone crossed after a pass from Smith, but after consulting the TMO, the referee disallowed it for a forward pass.
It took Wasps just two minutes of the second half to score their fourth, with winger Halai bulldozing his way past unsuccessful tacklers in a counter attack down the left. Gopperth added the conversion to make it 29-10.
Six minutes later Veainu scored with his first touch after replacing the injured Thompstone, cutting inside off his wing after some smart passing back the backs.
In the 63rd minute Wasps capitalised on a poor clearance by Tait, with former Wallaby George Smith providing the scoring pass to replacement Hughes.
With three minutes left Goneva scored Leicester's third try, with Burns adding the conversion, but they could not fight back for the win.