Leicester make up ground on leaderless Wasps as Veainu proves the difference
Wasps’s interim head coach Lee Blackett refused to blame the shock decision of long-term boss Dai Young to step down, as they ended a troubled week on another depressing note.
Fellow strugglers Leicester Tigers heaped more misery on the visitors, who allowed a half-time lead to slip and failed even to salvage a bonus point.
Full-back Telusa Veainu’s long-range try sealed victory for Leicester, who narrowed the gap on their Midlands rivals but remain just above already relegated Saracens.
Blackett had taken over the firstteam helm when Young unexpectedly stood aside from first-team duties after nine years in charge.
“We don’t want to use Dai’s situation as an excuse. Everyone was surprised by what happened, but we just had to get on with things,” said Blackett.
“The game was a great distraction for us. We started well, but then lost control after 20 minutes. It comes down to taking your chances and we didn’t do that.
“But the chance when Zach [Kibirige] dropped the ball as he was going over the line was a big moment. A try then for us would have given us the momentum, but they then race down the other end and get the try.”
While Wasps were left to lament what might have been, Tigers head coach Geordan Murphy insisted: “We turned the ball over too much in the first half, but were much more accurate after the break.
“Ben White’s tackle on Kibirige was crucial. It looked all the way a try, so to stop him and then get one ourselves soon after was big.”
Neither side got to grips with the driving wind and rain and although Tigers applied most of the pressure, it was Wasps who led 6-3 at the break.
Jimmy Gopperth kicked the opening points for Wasps, then he and Tigers No 10 Tom Hardwick exchanged further blows as Wasps built up a 9-3 advantage shortly into the second half.
Tigers lost lock Tomas Lavanini to the sin-bin, after the forward was penalised for his part in a Tigers surge at a line-out, which brought Wasps No 8 Nizaam Carr to the ground. Carr was unhurt, but referee Karl Dickson decided Lavanini was the most guilty.
Gopperth boosted Wasps lead by three more points only for Noel Reid, who had just replaced Hardwick at stand-off, to make it a three-point gap once more. The hosts finally poked their noses in front for the first time when a driving maul from a line-out led to loosehead Greg Bateman claiming the try, which Reid converted.
The pivotal moments of the contest came in the space of two minutes. Tigers scrum-half White produced a flying try-saving tackle to knock the ball from Kibirige’s hands as the Wasps wing looked certain to finish off the best move of the game. The tackle was deemed just legal as he grabbed Kibirige’s shoulders.
Instead of celebrating, Wasps were left distraught at conceding a try at the other end through a breakaway, when Jacob Umaga’s poor pass was snaffled by Veainu and he outpaced his pursuers, racing 60 yards to score.
It was a decisive blow which knocked the stuffing out of Wasps as Tigers celebrated just their third win of the Premiership season.