The pitches are firming up, the clouds are clearing and Wasps are coming into their own. They barely moved out of third gear, certainly in the second half, but, such is the torque of their sports cars on the wide outside, third gear was quite enough.
Worcester can play a bit, as two late consolation tries attest, but a back three of Christian Wade (two further towards the Premiership try-scoring record), Elliot Daly and Willie Le Roux is enough to terrify even the best of those they might encounter in the play-offs.
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This bonus-point win consolidates their position in the race for the top four, tucking them in behind Saracens in third place. After their hiccup at the death last week against Sale, Wasps know the margin for error is small, particularly if they harbour hopes of a home tie, but their quest for that bonus point was almost undone by two yellow cards in the second half, the second of which was a scandal.
“It’s difficult for us to say anything but that was a real harsh call,” said Dai Young of the card. “We all say, you win some, you lose some, but we’re not winning too many at the minute. If we hadn’t got the bonus point, we’d have been kicking ourselves.”
All the more so given that Guy Thompson thought he had scored the fourth try, worked sweetly into the corner in the 65th minute. After a review, the try was chalked off and the yellow card awarded instead to Jimmy Gopperth, who was adjudged to have upended the hefty Andrew Kitchener with his fingetip as he leapt, goalie-style, for a high ball in the buildup. The latter’s treatment for injury did more to alert the authorities than any actual contact. But no matter: Josh Bassett snatched an intercept moments later to earn Wasps the extra point, a measure of justice at least, no thanks to common sense.
Wasps were well worth the maximum points, however much they lost their way in the second half, with Danny Cipriani withdrawn as a precaution at the end of the first. By then, their pace out wide had proved too much. You can’t defend against pace, they say, and Wade, Daly, Le Roux et al laid on quite the demonstration of that truth.
Each of Wade’s first-half double was set up by the creative axis of Cipriani and Le Roux. Wade burned off Chris Pennell all too easily for the first, and for the second it was Bryce Heem who did not stand a chance against English rugby’s deadliest finisher.
In between, Joe Launchbury, magnificent in all departments, drove over from close range after Wasps had caused more havoc out wide. Two Gopperth penalties to a reply from Dorian Jones had Wasps 23-3 up at the break.
Jack Willis’s yellow card for a tip tackle gave the home team something to think about in the second half, and the game began to meander until those controversial moments with a quarter of an hour to go. Now 30-3 down, Worcester responded with tries from Dean Hammond and Josh Adams in the last two minutes, but they had been well beaten. Wasps are live contenders.