Wasps 24-16 London Irish, Ricoh Arena
Scorecard
Tom Cruse scored a double as Wasps went on to defeat London Irish 24-16 in their Aviva Premiership encounter at Ricoh Arena on Sunday.
As a result, Dai Young's side have climbed two places over Newcastle Falcons and Saracens to the second position while London Irish continue to languish at the bottom and are in the danger of relegation after succumbing to their 15th defeat in 17 games.
The Exiles started the game with a huge setback as David Paice was sin-binned in the fourth minute for an obstruction on Guy Thompson.
Wasps made full use of the numerical advantage as Cruse scored the first of his two tries in the 10th minute that was converted by Danny Cipriani. That were the only points in the first half as Wasps went into the break with a 7-0 lead.
The lead was doubled at the start of the second half when Dan Robson dived past the line that was improved by Cipriani and the response from London Irish finally came in the 55th minute when Bell slotted a simple penalty. The Exiles’ James Marshall then exploited a turnover to break 50 metres from inside his own half and establish the field position from which the visitors eventually drove replacement hooker Dave Porecki over for a try.
The third quarter ended with Cipriani and Bell trading penalties and Petrus du Plessis raised the hope of the visitors with his 74th minute try that brought the scoreline to 17-16 after Bell failed on the conversion.
But, Cruse ended the game just the way it started with a 76th minute touchdown as Wasps completed a 24-16 victory.
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