Leicester rampant against Wasps

Editor

A brace of tries from England scrum-half Ben Youngs helped Leicester Tigers to a 35-16 win over London Wasps at Welford Road.

A brace of tries from England scrum-half Ben Youngs helped Leicester Tigers to a 35-16 win over London Wasps at Welford Road.

The Tigers dominated from the outset as they moved to within a whisker of ensuring a home semi-final as well.

Toby Flood kicked them into an early six-point lead but the visitors did make them wait until the 20th minute for their first try.

It always looked like it would just be a matter of time though and powerful runs from Niall Morris, Steve Mafi and Rob Hawkins created just enough space for Ben Youngs to snipe from the base of a ruck and stretch out his right arm to touch down over the line.

Morris and Mafi were heavily involved in the second try of the afternoon as well as the former sucked in a number of defenders with a strong break near the right touchline and the latter shipped the ball wide left for Graham Kitchener to score in the opposite corner.

Tom Bell reduced the deficit with a penalty for the visitors before the Tigers were denied a third try by the television match official as Adam Thompstone just failed to squeeze in at the left-hand corner.

Leicester did extend their lead further before the break though as hooker Hawkins was the man to touch the ball down after a perfectly executed driving lineout. Flood missed the conversion and Wasps could only respond with another three points from Bell to make it 21-6 at half-time.

The home side continued to apply the pressure in the opening stages of the second half and they didn't have to wait long to seal the bonus point as Bell was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on just three minutes after the restart and Youngs took full advantage by darting through a sizeable gap for his second try of the match.

Elliot Daly at least kept the scoreboard ticking over for the Londoners with another penalty but there was never any real prospect of a meaningful comeback and Leicester even grabbed a fifth try before the hour mark.

Ed Slater stole the ball from a lineout five metres from the Wasps line and, after several phases spent banging on the door, the ball was worked wide to the left-hand side and Thompstone tiptoed his way down the touchline to score.

The visitors did get a consolation try as Daly showed good pace and footwork to dance his way past several defenders on his way to the try-line but it only served to make the scoreline look slightly more respectable as Leicester had already completed the task of securing their playoff berth in some style.

The scorers:

For Leicester:
Tries: Youngs 2, Kitchener, Hawkins, Thompstone
Cons: Flood 2
Pens: Flood 3

For London Wasps:
Tries: Daly
Con: Bell
Pens: Bell 3

Leicester: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Niall Morris, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Toby Flood (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Steve Mafi, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Rob Hawkins, 1 Logovi'i Mulipola.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Fraser Balmain, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Brett Deacon, 20 Thomas Waldrom, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 George Ford, 23 Matt Smith.

Wasps: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Bell (c), 12 Charlie Hayter, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Nick Robinson, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 James Cannon, 3 Will Taylor, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Zak Taulafo.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Lorenzo Romano, 19 Alex Rae, 20 Matt Everard, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Jack Wallace.

Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle, Gareth Copsey
Television match official: Graham Hughes