London Irish vs Wasps match report: Elliot Daly dose inspires Wasps

London Irish 15 Wasps 33

(Getty Images)

No doubt Eddie Jones, the new England coach, has already begun his research into the players at his disposal and it will be a surprise if he has not noticed Elliot Daly. The uncapped Wasps centre has been scorching the turf and kicking long-range goals all season and, if he could not find the posts here yesterday, he scored one try and created another as Wasps sustained the wonderful form they have shown ever since the World Cup left town.

If they can sustain this run going into Christmas it will be a significant achievement. The win over London Irish – who are still searching for their first Premiership win under their new management – carries them into the top half of the table and every club above them will regard Wasps with respect. Here they dominated the line-out, sorted out problems at the scrum where Ben Franks, New Zealand’s tighthead prop, was making his debut for the Irish, and had too much firepower when they moved the ball wide.

There are signs that the Irish will not occupy the basement all season, not least after two tries well taken by Johnny Williams from centre, and Wasps will serve as an example for them. But Wasps are the here-and-now team. They have found a delightful balance of power and guile so that, hard though the Exiles toiled in defence, they could not stop their opponents securing full points.

The London double header is something of a misnomer these days, with Wasps now based in Coventry and Harlequins in the West Country yesterday. Postponed to mid-season because of the World Cup, it still did well to pull in more than 40,000 customers.A week ago Wasps were burying Toulon, the European champions, although that game cost them the services of Christian Wade for a couple of months after the wing sustained ankle damage.

Nathan Hughes, the No 8 who qualifies for England next year, led the early charge and was over the Irish line in the second quarter but brought back for a knock-on after a critical intervention by Topsy Ojo.

Ojo was part of a hard-working defence which had to make more than 50 tackles in the first quarter alone. Yet Irish should have been level after a half-hour: Ruaridh Jackson chipped over a couple of penalties, Chris Noakes responded with one and should have landed another from 31 metres after Jake Cooper-Woolley collapsed a scrum.

It was a let-off swiftly punished. Charles Piutau tapped a penalty, James Haskell and Cooper-Woolley charged the Irish line and, from a ruck, Frank Halai nipped into the left-hand corner. But Wasps glee was soon doused. As the clock ticked into time added on, Alex Lewington ripped through the defence, Blair Cowan was stopped just short but patience and good handling earned Irish a try for Williams.

The blustery cold wind continued to haunt the kickers soon after the break, when neither Jackson nor Noakes could land penalties but it did not seem to matter when Wasps struck again. Their tight forwards, notably Matt Mullan, were admirably direct, a ruck was won quickly and Jackson and Ben Jacobs combined to send Daly sauntering over for a try improved by Jackson.

When Jimmy Gopperth, replacing Jackson, added a penalty, the Wasps garden seemed rosy. That was before the Irish attacked a blind side, Ojo kicked ahead and young Williams outstripped the defence for his second try, Noakes reducing the gap to five points. But Wasps are not flying so high for nothing and, in the last ten minutes, they made the game safe. From a close-range lineout, Tom Young drove over and the bonus point arrived when Daly streaked past three defenders to send Halai over unopposed.

London Irish: T Ojo; A Lewington, A Tikoirotuma, J Williams (T Brophy-Clews, 75), T Fowlie (F Mulchrone, 61); C Noakes, S Steele (D Allinson, 64); T Court (T Smallbone, 65), D Paice (G Ellis, 50), B Franks (L Halavatau, 72), E Sheriff (L Narraway, 55), M Symons (capt), J Trayfoot, B Cowan, O Treviranus (J Sinclair, 50).

Wasps: C Piutau, S Tagicakibau, E Daly, B Jacobs (B Macken, 70), F Halai; R Jackson (J Gopperth, 50), J Simpson (D Robson, 62); M Mullan (S McIntrye, 61), A Johnson (E Shervington, 62), J Cooper-Woolley (L Cittadini, 50), J Gaskell, K Myall (B Davies, 62), J Haskell (capt, S Jones, 54)), T Young, N Hughes.

Referee: W Barnes (RFU).