Gopperth guides Wasps to victory over Saracens
Jimmy Gopperth kicked 16 points as Wasps completed a hat-trick of impressive home victories with a 26-20 win over Saracens.
After beating Premiership leaders Leicester 16-13 and European champions Toulouse 30-22, they defeated fiercest rivals Saracens, who missed the chance to close the gap at the top of the table.
Gopperth kicked four penalties and converted both tries scored by Sam Spink and Elliot Stooke.
Alex Lewington, Nick Tompkins and Tom Woolstencroft scored Saracens’ tries, with Alex Lozowski adding a penalty and a conversion.
Wasps captain Joe Launchbury returned after a nine-month absence with damaged knee ligaments but they suffered a pre-match blow when prop Rodrigo Martinez injured his ankle in the warm-up and left the field on a stretcher.
However, they overcame this setback to take a fourth-minute lead with a simple penalty from Gopperth before going on to pick up the first try when Spink raced over after Saracens had failed to deal with a speculative up-and-under from Marcus Watson.
Gopperth converted but missed a straightforward penalty after a Saracens player had spoken out of turn to referee Karl Dickson.
It took the visitors 18 minutes to break into the opposition 22 but when they did a strong run from Tompkins won his side his penalty which Lozowski kicked to put the visitors on the scoreboard.
Gopperth nullified this with his second penalty before the visitors looked to have scored their first try.
A neat chip over the top from Manu Vunipola was twice hacked on by Alex Goode with Lewington appearing to win the race to touch down, but TMO replays showed that the wing had lost possession.
Lewington was not to be denied and rewarded a sustained period of pressure by supporting a burst from Billy Vunipola to dive over.
The visitors continued to dominate the second quarter and deservedly scored their second try when Woolstencroft forced his way over to leave the scores level at 13-13 at the interval.
Launchbury was replaced at the break by James Gaskell but resilient Wasps would not lie down and another penalty from Gopperth put them back in front before Tonga international centre Malakai Fekitoa was introduced for his first game since dislocating his shoulder back in September.
It was in time to see Gopperth kick his fourth penalty to give Wasps a six-point advantage going into the final quarter.
Saracens then had a second try ruled out by the TMO. Replacement Andy Christie secured the touchdown from close range but replays showed a Wasps player being impeded.
The game hung in the balance but Saracens were frequently on the wrong side of the refereeing decisions and the hosts broke out to seal victory with a try from Stooke four minutes from the end.
Saracens deserved something from the game and got it with a last-minute try from Tompkins, with Lozowski’s conversion securing the bonus point.
Latest Comments
No just because the personal is much better than last year. I've shown no antagonism of Crusader players, you must be confusing me with someone else.
I have critized Razor for picking players he knows occasionally?
I said I'm not surprised because of his style, he's more a grinder player like Cane, not going to show up on peoples radar until you see how bad the other choices are. This year players like Clarke have been on fire and just show a bit more.
Are you one of those posters continually taking it easy on Razor because he doesn't have his Crusaders stars available? Do you think the rugby world is going to up to him suddenly once Mo'unga returns? lol
Go to commentsJohn you have been beating this drum for a couple of years, if you get proven right get back to us.
The last recent and decent Aussie coach was Ewen McKenzie, he was undermined and forced out by a couple of slimy Aussie players who were given a free pass when they should have been disciplined.
So our history since McQueen is very checkered and it seems to make little difference whether we have an Aussie coach or a Kiwi coach. The players have been entitled for a long time and we had to hit bottom to get them back into reality and to stop thinking it is all about them.
Cheika was an OK coach but his 'go our and destroy the opposition' tactic worked for a while and then didn't.
Please give me a list of great Aussie coaches that I have missed.
Go to comments