Wasps move to third with 13-31 win over Sale Sharks
Nathan Hughes was one of the try-scorer for Wasps
©PA
Sale Sharks 13-31 Wasps, AJ Bell Stadium
Scorecard
Wasps made a terrific comeback to beat Sale Sharks 13-31 in their Gallagher Premiership encounter at AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday.
Dai Young's men started the game with a setback as Nathan Hughes was sin-binned in the opening minute and Jono Ross punished the visitors with a 2nd minute try that was improved by Aj MacGinty to take them to a seven point lead.
As Lima Sopoaga and MacGinty traded penalties, Sale Sharks maintained their seven point lead until the 34th minute when Wasps responded back strongly with back to back tries from Nizaam Carr and Josh Bassett in the 35th and 39th minutes. Sopoaga converted both the tries as the visitors headed into the break with a 10-17 lead.
Even though MacGinty with his second penalty kick in the 46th minute reduced the arrears to four points a yellow card to Ben Curry in the 52nd minute dampened the momentum of the home side.
A 53rd minute try from Will Stuart followed by a conversion from Sopoaga made the scoreline 10-24 and as Sale Sharks failed to show any resilience, Hughes with his 78th minute try secured the bonus point for Wasps as they completed a 10-31 victory.
"We were good for it. It wasn't a perfect performance by any stretch of the imagination, but it's certainly a monkey off our back and, to come away with five points, we can't get much better than that," said Young.
"I'm really pleased because it's a difficult place to come, as we all know, and it's proved too difficult for us in the past, but it was great to just get that win.
"Willie Le Roux is back next week playing international rugby. Obviously, he's been excellent for South Africa, came back and wanted to play.
"He felt he needed to get the jersey on and play, and it's been quite a while since he last put it on, but he slotted straight back in. That's what you find with world-class players."
