Wasps 43-14 London Irish

A brace from Tom Varndell and a flawless kicking display from Stephen Jones helped Wasps to an impressive 43-14 win over London Irish.

Jones put the hosts ahead with a penalty early on in his competitive debut for the club but Steve Shingler responded with three points of his own for the visitors in a scrappy opening quarter as both sides wrestled for control of the game. And Irish struck the first meaningful blow midway through the first half as flying winger Marland Yarde gave the perfect demonstration of why many people are so excited about Brian Smith's backline, showing searing pace and quick feet to score the opening try. Wasps winger Varndell nearly levelled things up but his try was disallowed for a forward pass. Former Welsh international fly-half Jones did keep the scoreboard ticking over with two further penalties though. The home side dominated possession and territory as the half wore on but handling errors cost them at crucial times and they went into the half-time interval behind as a late Shingler penalty gave London Irish an 11-9 lead. It didn't take Wasps long to hit the front in the second half though and, after a fourth penalty from Jones, Varndell did get his name on the scoresheet as good work from the forwards and a quick burst from Christian Wade laid the platform for him to dive over in the corner. Shingler did keep the visitors in the hunt by kicking another three points midway through the half to reduce the deficit but Joe Simpson's trademark snipe, which resulted in a try under the posts for the scrum-half, opened up a commanding lead again. And, with the result as good as decided, Irish really crumbled in the final five minutes as Jones kicked another three points and the visiting defence conceded two more tries to hand Wasps a bonus point on a plate. Replacement prop Zak Taulafo got the first before an excellent break from Simpson gave Varndell the opportunity to score his second of the game and wrap up a perfect afternoon for the Adams Park faithful.