Saracens first to inflict Premiership defeat on Wasps at Ricoh with 26-17 Premiership win
Last Updated: 09/03/15 9:16am
Saracens continued their bid for a semi-final place with an impressive 26-17 Aviva Premiership win over Wasps on Sunday.
Tries from Christian Wade and Elliot Daly put the hosts 17-3 up with just 15 minutes on the clock, but a superb kicking display from Alex Goode and tries from Jackson Wray and Chris Wyles kept the scoreboard ticking in favour of the guests throughout the remainder of the game.
Despite being a man down for ten minutes at one stage, Saracens scored 23 unanswered points as they handed Wasps their first ever Premiership defeat at the Ricoh Arena.
The first half started in typically tough fashion with the forwards exchanging set piece plays before Andy Goode put his side ahead with the boot when Maro Itoje was spotted failing to roll away at a ruck. His counterpart Alex Goode managed to draw the scores level to make it 3-3 after seven minutes.
Shortly thereafter Wade collected his own grubber kick in a superb effort to dot down for the home side. His fly-half converted to give Wasps a healthy lead.
After 15 minutes it seemed like the game was getting away from Saracens as Daly broke free from deep to score. With the Andy Goode conversion it was 17-3 with barely any time gone and Wasps appearing to be in a ruthless mood.
However, that score seemed to inject some energy into the Saracens play as well as their confidence. When they were awarded a penalty they opted to go for the corner instead of a kick between the posts. After drawing two more penalties from Wasps and opting for the same play, Wray finally crossed for the visitors to validate his captain's decision.
Alex Goode reduced the deficit to four points with the half drawing to a close, and shortly after Richard Wigglesworth pushed a grubber through which Wyles claimed and crossed for a try that was converted for a 20-17 scoreline in favour of the guests at half-time.
Chris Ashton was shown a yellow card at the beginning of the second half, but instead of conceding points Saracens extended their lead to 23-17 during that period.
In the 65th minute Wasps lost a player of their own to the bin, and Alex Goode gratefully pushed the lead to nine points from the tee.
Saracens held onto that lead for the remainder of the game to leave the Ricoh Arena with a valuable win - the first loss for the hosts at the Ricoh Arena.