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Wasps end winless run with victory over in-form London Irish
By PA
Hooker Dan Frost scored two tries as Wasps picked up a much-needed 38-30 over in-form London Irish in the Gallagher Premiership.
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It ended a run of six straight defeats in all competitions for the injury-hit home side, as they moved up to eighth in the table.
This was the Exiles’ first defeat in seven games, but they fully contributed to the entertainment at the CBS Arena with Frost’s opposite number, Agustin Creevy, scoring two of their five tries.
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Wasps were forced into a late change due to an injury to Tom Willis, with Thomas Young coming in at openside flanker, meaning Brad Shields and Alfie Barbeary moved to blindside and No.8 respectively.
London Irish led after five minutes through a Paddy Jackson penalty from just under 40 metres out, but Wasps hit back with a superb opening try.
Jacob Umaga’s pass sent Ali Crossdale through a gap before the full-back gave it to the charging Luke Mehson, who returned the ball for Crossdale to just about slide over in the corner, with Jimmy Gopperth converting.
The hosts struck for a second time after 18 minutes when Umaga’s kick through ricocheted into the path of Frost, who hacked on before gathering to score.
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The Exiles quickly pulled an unconverted try back when Kyle Rowe’s off-load set Ollie Hassell-Collins away and the big winger shrugged off Umaga’s tackle in forcing his way clear.
Gopperth extended Wasps’ lead to 17-8 with a penalty from in front of the posts before Barbeary added a third try for the hosts by breaking off a driving maul to force his way over down the right.
This was quickly cancelled out, however, when Lucio Cinti’s pass allowed Creevy to dive in for his 10th try of the season.
Gopperth then slotted another penalty before Creevy scored again off the final play of the first half, as he was driven over by his pack following a line-out to make the score 25-18 to Wasps at half-time.
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It was the hosts who struck first in the second half and it was their turn to register a pushover try, with Frost grounding the ball to claim his second and secure Wasps their try bonus point.
Gopperth then sent over his third penalty to extend Wasps’ lead to 17 points before Creevy’s replacement Tadgh McElroy went over off the back of another driving maul to give Irish their try bonus.
Another penalty from Gopperth with 10 minutes left meant Wasps could rest easy in the closing stages, although they did have Umaga sent off for his shoulder making contact with Hassell-Collins’ head with two minutes left.
In what little time was left, a big overlap led to Ben White going over for what was a consolation score for the visitors.
