1
Wasps edge out Newcastle as departing Banahan inspires Bath
By Ben Spratt
Wasps held on to third place in the Premiership table as they defeated fourth-placed Newcastle Falcons on the final day of the regular season, while Bath qualified for the European Champions Cup.
The standout clash of the final round of fixtures came at a sold-out Kingston Park, where home supporters were hopeful of avoiding table-topping Exeter Chiefs in their first jaunt into the play-offs.
But the Falcons were blown away by Wasps in the first half and only rallied after their opening try in the 63rd minute, Newcastle losing 39-22 despite a late push.
Tom Cruse, Elliot Daly, Danny Cipriani, Josh Bassett, Jimmy Gopperth and Willie Le Roux all crossed for the visitors to secure a comfortable victory.
Champions Cup places were also up for grabs on Saturday and Leicester Tigers and Bath both secured top-six finishes.
Leicester, inspired by the brilliant George Ford, denied Sale Sharks with a 35-13 away win, while Bath were rampant in a 63-19 defeat of London Irish as Matt Banahan scored a hat-trick in his final match for the club.
That result ensured Bath pipped Gloucester - Banahan's new side - after they were thrashed 62-12 at Saracens.
Leaders Exeter Chiefs beat Harlequins 41-17, while Northampton Saints saw off Worcester Warriors 32-24.
In other news:
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Edinburgh edge Glasgow but Warriors get last laugh
3
'Ugly and horrible': Mark McCall reacts to humbling Saracens' loss
4
Rampant Bath blow away 14-man Saracens
5
Latest Comments
Not all though.
Go to commentsDisastrous result for conaught almost an impossible task to make top 8 now
The fixture may have been overly friendly recently, and connaught appeared to be a bit unstuck by the venom and vitriol from Ulster. Doak had an amzing game shooting out with perfect timing to disrupt onnaught on every attacking phase. On paper connaught should have had this. Well done to Ulster. connaught were suckered a bit.
Go to comments