Young: It was pretty cruel on Irish – the best team lost

Dai Young lambasted his Wasps players, despite watching them leap into second place in the Premiership table with a workmanlike win over suffering London Irish. The director of rugby was unimpressed with the performance, which saw the title contenders given a major scare by a team fighting for its top-flight life.

Former Irish hooker Tom Cruse scored two tries for Wasps, his second coming near the end after the visitors had closed the gap to one point and were threatening an upset. Irish had fought their hearts out and gave their supposedly superior hosts a major fright until losing out.

Young complained: “To be honest the best team lost. It was a really poor performance and leaves a bitter

taste in the mouth because it was pretty cruel on Irish.

“We were a shadow of ourselves and looked a tired, flat team. The conditions were difficult, but we’ve played in worse and it doesn’t excuse the amount of handling errors. At least we found a way to win, and I’m happy with our position.”

Wasps leap above Newcastle and Saracens, who lost at Exeter, to give their hopes of securing a home play-off a huge boost. But they made heavy weather in the rain of beating opposition who look destined to be relegated.

Irish hooker David Paice was sent to the sin-bin for a late tackle, and Cruse dropped down with the ball over the Irish line from a Wasps rolling maul for the opening try, which Danny Cipriani converted.

Wasps held a 7-0 half-time lead, but Irish full-back Greig Tonks had missed two penalties. The home side were more inspired at the restart, with scrum-half Dan Robson diving over for the second try and Cipriani adding the conversion.

Replacement Tommy Bell kicked Irish’s first points of the game. The visitors were suddenly galvanised and grew in confidence when replacement hooker Dave Porecki claimed a try from a driving maul.

Cipriani and Bell exchanged penalties, and the home fans feared the worst when replacement prop Petrus du Plessis appeared to have put Irish in with a chance of winning when he barrelled over.

Bell missed the conversion, which would have put the visitors in front, and moments later they were left in despair as Cruse charged down and ran through for the crucial score. Cipriani converted and Irish’s players fell to the mud at the final whistle.

Nick Kennedy, Irish’s director of rugby, whose side remain 12 points adrift at the foot of the table, said: “It’s extremely disappointing to lose out like that. The conditions were tough, but I was proud. We are playing well without getting the rewards we deserve.”