Wade hat-trick fires Wasps past Bath

Editor

A Christian Wade hat-trick inspired Wasps to an impressive 40-26 bonus-point victory over Bath at the Ricoh Arena on Saturday.

The first-half was a thoroughly entertaining affair as both defences seemed to go AWOL.

Wade scored a quick-fire brace early in the half before tries from Ross Batty and Dave Attwood clawed Bath back into the match.

The superb Thomas Young crossed the whitewash just before the break to give the hosts a strong lead.

His father, Dai Young saw his charges fly out of the blocks in the second half as Wade completed his hat-trick by rounding off a superb team move.

Bath rallied late on with tries from Tom Ellis and Ben Tapuai but it was not enough as the hosts ran out deserved winners. The win sees Wasps draw level on points with Saracens atop the Premiership while bath remain third.

Wasps scored the first try of the match after six minutes, Young pounced on a mistake under the high ball from Aled Blew. Young off-loaded brilliantly to Wade who slid over the line for the first score. Jimmy Gopperth converted to make the score 7-0.

Wade scored his second soon after, in the 12th minute the England international found himself in a one-one-one situation after some brilliant set-up play. His quick feet dazzled the defender and he made his way over the try-line. Gopperth's conversion made the score 14-0.

Bath hit back with a try of their own four minutes later. Jonathan Joseph made a fantastic break before the ball found its way to Batty who crossed the line to bring the visitors back into the match. George Ford slotted home the conversion to cut the deficit to seven points.

In the 21st minute a high tackle by Luke Charteris gifted the hosts a penalty. It was an easy kick for the Premiership's top points scorer Gopperth as the ball sailed through the posts from the tee.

Attwood scored Bath's second try after 24 minutes, Kahn Fotuali'i broke through the hosts' defence to take his side deep into the Wasps' 22. The away side worked the ball along to Attwood, who beat Elliot Daly from five metres out to score. Ford converted to make the score 17-14.

Wasps ensured they went into half-time with a comfortable lead as the brilliant Young broke away, showing the Bath defence a clean set of heels as he ran in to score a try. Gopperth converted to make the half-time score 24-17.

Wade completed his hat-trick just six minutes into the second-half. A sensational try scored after a great move. Daly broke through the defence before off-loading to Kurtley Beale who found Wade brilliantly. The winger secured a bonus point under the posts before Gopperth successfully converted to take his side's advantage to 17 points.

Kiwi Gopperth extended his side's lead after Bath were penalised at the scrum. The 33-year old's aim was unerring as he made it six kicks from six with the penalty, this took the score to 34-14.

Ellis dotted down for Bath following a line-out in the 58th minute. Ford's attempted conversion was wide though as Wasps retained an 18-point lead.

Bath's resurgence continued when, in the 66th minute, Tapuai evaded the attentions of the Wasps defence to score in the corner. This secured a bonus-point for Todd Blackadder's side before Ford added the conversion, taking the final score to 40-26.

The scorers:

For Wasps:
Tries: Wade 3, Young
Cons: Gopperth 4
Pens: Gopperth 4

For Bath:
Tries: Batty, Attwood, Ellis, Tapuai
Cons: Ford 3

Wasps: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Marty Moore, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Matt Mullan
Replacements: 16 Alex Rieder, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Kyle Eastmond, 23 Rob Miller

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Aled Brew, 10 George Ford (cc), 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Matt Garvey (cc), 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Nathan Catt
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Tom Ellis, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Max Clark

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant Referees: Peter Allan, Paul Burton
TMO: Graham Hughes