Wasps 36-24 Leicester: Wasps climb above Tigers to third after bonus-point victory - Ruck

Wasps 36-24 Leicester: Wasps climb above Tigers to third after bonus-point victory

  • Wasps climbed above Leicester to third in the Premiership table with a 36-24 bonus-point victory
  • The hosts held a 22-10 half-time advantage
  • Further tries from Frank Halai and Nathan Hughes sealed victory for Wasps
  • Telusa Veainu and Vereniki Goneva responded with consolation scores for the Tigers 
Wasps saw off a valiant Leicester side at the Ricoh Arena to move up to third place in the Avia Premiership.

Dai Young’s side were forced to defend right until the last, as the Tigers looked for a fourth try to secure two losing bonus points.

Charles Piatau stole the show with two tries as well as setting up Frank Halai, while Christian Wade and Nathan Hughes also added to the scoreline.

It was Wasps’ first win over Leicester since a 22-12 victory at Adams Park in October 2013, allowing both them and Northampton, who were 26-11 winners over Sale, to overtake Tigers, who slip to fifth.

Only five points separate Wasps from sixth-placed Harlequins in the race for a top-four play-off place.


Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Charles Piutau, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Sam Jones, 7 George Smith (c), 6 Thomas Young, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 James Cannon, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Ashley Johnson, 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Edd Shervington, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Jamie Stevenson, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Brendan Macken

Leicester: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Matt Smith, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Jono Kitto, 8 Ed Slater (c), 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Mike Fitzgerald, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Marcos Ayerza
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Graham Kitchener, 20 Mike Williams 21 George Tresidder, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Telusa Veainu


Date: Saturday, March 12
Venue: Ricoh Arena
Kick-off: 13:45 GMT
Referee: Greg Garner
Assistant Referees: Ashley Rowden, Paul Burton
TMO: Trevor Fisher