Wasps book European Cup quarter final

Wasps qualified for the European Rugby Champions Cup quarter finals after beating Leinster 52-10 at the Ricoh Arena.

A rampant Wasps side outscored Leinster by six tries to two in Coventry and as Toulon failed to earn a bonus point against Bath, Wasps topped the pool.

Leinster struck first with a second minute Zane Kirchner try and Eoin Reddan’s score on the half hour brought the Irish province back to 12-10.

But after that, Wasps started to pull away. Jimmy Gopperth, who finished with 19 points, notched their first try when finding a gap in the visiting defence while lock Joe Launchbury ran in the second try down the left.

Elliot Daly showed a stunning turn of pace to streak clear for the third before halftime and the forwards forced the bonus-point fourth just after the break with a rolling maul.

Wasps, who a week ago lost out on a famous victory at Toulon when Drew Mitchell scored a try after the final hooter, were buoyant and the points kept coming with New Zealander pair Frank Halai and Charles Piutau both crossing the whitewash, before South African prop Ashley Johnson rounded off the scoring with the seventh try two minutes from time.

Meanwhile, Ulster kept their quarter-final hopes alive with an eight-try, bonus-point 56-3 victory over Oyonnax.

Tries from Rob Herring, Darren Cave, Rory Scholes, Sean Reidy, Craig Gilroy, Robbie Diack, Ian Humphreys and Jared Payne meant Ulster finished the group stages on 18 points, well behind runaway pool A winners Saracens who ended with a perfect six wins from six after winning 28-17 at Toulouse.

But with only three of the five second-placed pool finishers reaching the knock-out stages, Ulster now face an anxious wait to see if they will be in the draw for the last eight.

The Belfast-based province were the last team from Ireland still in with a chance of reaching the knock-out stages but they started the day with the worst record of the five second-placed teams.

A bonus-point victory was a must, as well as piling on the points in case of a tie at the end of the pool stage.

Former champions Leinster have now been eliminated from the tournament and there will be concern in the Ireland camp after Jonny Sexton was forced from the field in the 9th minute.

Final Score Wasps 52 (15) Leinster 10 (10)

Scorers

Wasps
Tries – Gopperth, Launchbury, Daly, Penalty, Halai, Piutau, Johnson
Pen – Gopperth (2)
Con – Gopperth (4), Jackson
Drop –

Leinster
Tries – Kirchner, Reddan
Pen –
Con –
Drop –

Match Officials
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France),
Assistant ref: Sebastien Minery (France),
Assistant ref: Thomas Dejean (France),
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France),
Citing Commissioner: John Montgomery (Scotland)

Teams

Wasps: Charles Piutau; Josh Bassett, Elliot Daly, Brendan Macken, Frank Halai; Jimmy Gopperth, Joe Simpson; Matt Mullan, Edd Shervington, Lorenzo Cittadini, Joe Launchbury, Bradley Davies, James Haskell (c), George Smith, Sam Jones

Replacements: Ashley Johnson, Tom Bristow, Jake Cooper-Woolley, James Gaskell, Nathan Hughes, Dan Robson, Ruaridh Jackson, Rob Miller

Leinster Rugby: Rob Kearney; Zane Kirchner, Luke Fitzgerald, Noel Reid, Dave Kearney; Johnny Sexton (c), Eoin Reddan; Jack McGrath, Sean Cronin, Martin Moore, Devin Toner, Rhys Ruddock, Dominic Ryan, Jordi Murphy, Jamie Heaslip

Replacements: Richardt Strauss, Peter Dooley, Michael Bent, Ross Molony, Josh Van Der Flier, Isaac Boss, Cathal Marsh, Ben Te’o