Premiership: Second-half try blitz leads Wasps to 36-26 victory over London Irish

Wasps recovered from a slow start to earn a five-try bonus-point Premiership win at London Irish and leapfrog their opponents into the top half.

Ben Meehan and Ben Loader gave Irish a deserved 14-3 lead before Biyi Alo replied on the stroke of half-time.

Fellow Wasps prop Ben Harris gave the visitors the lead only for Irish’s Matt Rogerson to crash over soon after.

Marcus Watson, Dan Robson and Jacob Umaga all crossed for Wasps before Motu Matu’u earned Irish a try bonus point.

Meehan was alert after six minutes to kick through a gap and collect to score the opening try, which Stephen Myler converted.

Wasps hit back through Jimmy Gopperth’s penalty before Irish wing Loader got on the scoresheet.

The lively runner had been stripped in the act of scoring by a Paolo Odogwu tackle after 19 minutes but was not to be denied just after the half-hour mark.

Irish were well on top and it took Wasps until first-half injury time to register their opening try through the burrowing Alo.

Harris struck six minutes after the break, picking up the loose ball to dot down after a Robson chip towards the line.

But Irish replacement prop Sekope Kepu claimed a fine assist for Rogerson’s score, passing the ball back through his own legs when it appeared he would be bundled into touch.

With the game opening up, it was Wasps who took advantage of the space on offer and they struck three times in just over 10 minutes to put the game beyond Irish.

Watson grabbed his 20th Premiership try before Robson sneaked under a Blair Cowan tackle for the bonus point and Umaga went under the posts.

Resilient Irish kept going and were rewarded deep into injury time when hooker Matu’u dropped over the line from a driving maul to secure a try bonus point.

Wasps have now picked up five try bonus points in six matches, scoring 25 tries in the process.

Their five-point win moved the Coventry club up to sixth, above Irish, who are eighth, with both sides on 28 points from their opening 12 matches.

The only minus point negative for Wasps was the loss of new Wales international lock Will Rowlands, who added to his country’s mounting injury problems by going off with a knee problem on 37 minutes.

London Irish director of rugby Declan Kidney:

“Wasps were good value for their win. They gave us a lesson at the breakdown.

“We weren’t ourselves and weren’t on the money as much as we have been in recent weeks.

“They showed us what areas of our game we need to work on, which we will address in due course.”

Wasps interim head coach Lee Blackett:

“I’d have taken a 3-0 win before the start. I didn’t care how we won as they have been in really good form lately.

“We lacked a bit of energy but Biyi Alo’s try just before half-time was the turning point as that passage of play took a lot out of them and certainly made the half-time team talk a lot easier.

“It was tough at times but we stayed in the fight and in the second half, we showed we can be right up with the best in terms of attack. However we are disappointed to give them a bonus point at the end.

“Will Rowlands couldn’t carry on as he had a slight knock to his knee. It was a medical decision to take him off. I don’t think it’s serious. Hopefully he can go back to Wales and be involved in Saturday’s game against England.”

London Irish: Parton; Loader, Rona, Hepetema, Hassell-Collins; Myler, Meehan; Elrington, Matu’u, Hoskins, van der Merwe (capt), Coleman, Rogerson, Cowan, Tuisue.

Replacements: Phipps for Meehan (52), Porecki for Matu’u (52), Kepu for Hoskins (52), Mafi for van der Merwe (52), Hobbs-Awoyemi for Elrington (62), Donnell for Cowan (68). B Campbell for Hepetema (73), Stokes for Parton (76).

Wasps: Watson; Odogwu, Fekitoa, Gopperth, Bassett; Umaga, Robson (capt); Harris, Taylor, Alo, Rowlands, Flament, Shields, Willis, Carr.

Replacements: Matthews for Rowlands (37), Brookes for Alo (46), Oghre for Taylor (55), Sopoaga for Odogwu (55), West for Harris (59), Morris for Shields (73), Spink for Gopperth (76), Porter for Robson (76),

Referee: Tom Foley.