Wasps beat Saints as Sarries book play off

Rob Miller scored a brace of tries to help Wasps beat Northampton Saints to keep their top four hopes alive while also ensuring that Saracens are in the top four.

Wasps outscored Northampton by three tries to none and the victory moves Wasps to within two points of second place in the standings.

Tries in both halves for the full-back were added to by Jamie Stevenson, as well as an excellent display of kicking from both Jimmy Gopperth and Elliot Daly.

Northampton’’s Stephen Myler mustered their only points of the afternoon from the tee, after they failed to break past the Wasps defence.

Saints’ fly-half Myler opened the scoring by slotting his longest penalty of the season, seeing his kick sail through the uprights from 45 metres out.

With five minutes on the clock, Miller nearly scored the first try of the game after a great display of footwork saw him clear of the Northampton defence, but he was brought down just short of the line.

Having seen his previous attempt rebound off the uprights, Gopperth levelled the scores at the Ricoh Arena with 17 minutes on the clock.

Five minutes later, an excellent Wasps break saw them go the length of the pitch, allowing Miller to finally get his name on the scoresheet.

After Frank Halai collected well in the air, the ball moved through the hands of George Smith and Thomas Young, before finding the full-back Miller to score under the posts, making Gopperth’’s conversion a formality.

After the break, Daly added three points with a penalty from inside his own half, before Myler reduced the deficit from the tee.

With 13 minutes remaining, quick handling meant Wasps’ Smith found Miller running the perfect line through the Northampton backs, allowing him to carry home unchallenged. Gopperth added the conversion, making the score 20-6 in favour of the hosts.

Daly added three points from his own half once again, before replacement scrum-half Jamie Stevenson scored his first try in Wasps colours to extend their lead to 22 points.

Final Score Wasps 28 (10) Northampton Saints 6 (3)

Scorers

Wasps
Tries – Miller (2), Stevenson
Pen – Gopperth, Daly (2)
Con – Gopperth (2)
Drop –

Northampton Saints
Tries –
Pen –
Myler (2)
Con –
Drop –

Match Officials
Referee :Luke Pearce (49th Premiership game).
Assistant Referees: Andrew Jackson & Robin Goodliffe.
TMO: Geoff Warren.

Teams

Wasps

15. Rob Miller , 14. Christian Wade , 13. Elliot Daly , 12. Siale Piutau , 11. Frank Halai , 10. Jimmy Gopperth , 9. Craig Hampson , 8. Nathan Hughes , 7. George Smith , 6. Thomas Young , 5. Bradley Davies, 4. Joe Launchbury, 3. Jake Cooper-Woolley , 2. Ashley Johnson, 1. Matt Mullan (c)

Replacements : 16. Carlo Festuccia , 17. Simon McIntyre , 18. Lorenzo Cittadini , 19. Kearnan Myall , 20. James Haskell , 21. Jamie Stevenson , 22. Ruaridh Jackson , 23. Sailosi Tagicakibau

Northampton Saints

15 Ben Foden , 14 Ken Pisi , 13 George Pisi , 12 Harry Mallinder , 11 George North , 10 Stephen Myler , 9 Kahn Fotuali’i , 1 Alex Waller , 2 Mikey Haywood , 3 Kieran Brookes , 4 Courtney Lawes , 5 Christian Day , 6 Tom Wood (capt) , 7 Teimana Harrison , 8 Sam Dickinson

Replacements : 16 Reece Marshall , 17 Campese Ma’afu , 18 Paul Hill , 19 James Craig , 20 Jon Fisher , 21 Lee Dickson , 22 JJ Hanrahan , 23 Tom Collins