Borthwick left with questions to answer
WASPS gave leaders Leicester a big wake up call in this final regular season match before Saturday’s semi-final visit of Northampton.
A 61st-minute try by Freddie Steward and two late penalties from George Ford maintained Leicester’s undefeated home Premiership record, but overall they lacked their usual dominance and edge which must be a concern for boss Steve Borthwick.
Wasps deserved more than the ‘honourable losers’ tag and at one stage in the second half they were dominating and had Leicester at full stretch in defending an initial lead of 7-0.
Overall, it was a scrappy contest in windy conditions which ended in stuttering Leicester winning by two tries to one.
It was a far different picture at the start when a forceful opening looked to suggest an easy Leicester win was on the cards. However, it was anything but.
A second-minute try from centre Guy Porter, which Ford converted, immediately put the Tigers in charge. Porter surprised the Wasps defence through his strong running straight from a lineout and squeezed past two defenders before scooting round Paolo Odogwu.
But that proved to be the only score of a first half which became increasingly scrappy, not helped by the gusting wind and two teams over-reliant on kicking.
Leicester tried to bombard Wasps into submission by using the kicking range of Ford to trap the visiting back three. It was a tactic that
Wasps, except for once when Ali Crossdale knocked on, managed to combat while up front their pack did not allow Leicester to dominate.
Every time Leicester looked to have gained an opportunity they messed up. Wasps also had the same problem in counterattacking, including an effort late on in the half when Crossdale wasted his enterprising run by throwing out a wayward pass to Odogwu.
Leicester’s best chance of a further score came in the final minute when Ford pushed a penalty attempt wide to keep the score at 7-0.
Wasps immediately took charge of the second half helped by that gusting wind. Leicester struggled to clear their lines and Wasps ignored one kickable penalty to maintain the pressure.
Though Wasps wasted that chance at a lineout, they quickly resumed the pressure to force a further penalty which this time Gopperth accepted.
It was all part of a dominant 15 minutes for Wasps which yielded just that penalty. They deserved more – especially when held up over the line by the Leicester pack.
The tide turned back in Leicester’s favour around the hour mark when Ford’s kicking forced Wasps backwards. The introduction of Harry Wells also brought new energy into the home pack.
Leicester, like Wasps, ignored one kickable penalty in favour of mounting a ferocious maul off a close-in lineout. At one stage they threw 11 men into the rolling maul which forced Wasps to concede additional penalties.
Leicester, though thoroughly off colour for most of the match, found their stride to work a try on the right for full-back Steward which Ford converted for a 14-3 lead.
Ford quickly added a further penalty to stretch the margin before Wasps kept their hopes alive when substitute scrumhalf Will Porter raced 25 metres following a nifty offload from Bassett.
Atkinson converted to cut the score to 17-10 but Ford had the final word, landing a second penalty to
keep Leicester in control.