Wasps soar over Bristol
Dai Young's men produced an attacking masterclass as their exciting backline and impressive pack grabbed five tries in each half at the Ricoh Arena.
Elliot Daly, Christian Wade and Ashley Johnson all grabbed braces, and there were also tries for Tommy Taylor, Jake Cooper-Woolley, Matt Symons and Danny Cipriani as the Black and Golds just missed out on breaking their own record points total, which was set two years ago when they beat London Welsh 71-7.
For Bristol, all three of their tries came in the second period through Jack Lam, Mitch Eadie and Gaston Cortes as they continue their search for a first Premiership Rugby win since their return.
In Sunday's other match, Joel Hodgson missed a last-minute drop-goal as Leicester Tigers escaped Kingston Park with a one-point victory against Newcastle Falcons to move into the top four of the Premiership.
Hodgson had a shot to win the game for the hosts with the last kick in the 85th minute but skewed his effort wide of the posts from close range.
Newcastle had an early 10-point lead after Juan Pablo Socino's try, but Leicester hit back through Mike Fitzgerald.
And Freddie Burns kicked three penalties to win it for the Tigers, who bounce back after last week's loss against Wasps.
We take a look at Sunday's action!
Wasps 70-22 Bristol
Wasps enjoyed a dream start when Tommy Taylor dotted down off the back of a driving maul after Danny Cipriani had kicked a penalty in the opening minute to the corner.
Jimmy Gopperth was unable to provide the extras and by the time a quarter of an hour was on the clock, Bristol had reduced the deficit to two points through Tusi Pisi's routine penalty.
Gopperth's own kick a moment later regained the five-point advantage though and it quickly became evident that it was going to be Wasps' day.
The Black and Golds were denied a try when the TMO agreed with the touch judge that Thompson had been taken into touch before releasing the ball.
But that was only a brief reprieve for Bristol as shortly after Gopperth landed a 40-metre penalty, Wasps grabbed their second try of the game in bizarre fashion.
A quick line-out saw Cipriani kick towards the corner and while Christian Wade was unable to dot down, as his boot helped the ball into the corner flag, it ricocheted back into play and Elliot Daly was able to touch down to make it 16-3.
The home side were by now in full flow and after Thompson provided crash ball following a great angle, Simpson broke the line. Wade was unable to wiggle his way over but after a few phases of play, Jake Cooper-Woolley powered through to score.
Wasps thought they had their try bonus point around the half-hour mark when James Gaskell ran clear, only for the referee to pull play back for a forward pass by Daly.
Bristol had shown attacking intent with the ball in hand in the early stages but they were not clinical enough in the final third, which was evident when Joe Joyce failed to find the arms of Olly Robinson from a line-out training ground routine close to the tryline, following a kick to the corner.
And Wasps had their try bonus point after just 35 minutes when Pisi was penalised for throwing the ball away ahead of a line-out, Gopperth kicked to the corner and after a few phases of forward play, Matt Symons dotted down.
Young's men then rounded off a clinical first-half when Daly broke through, Taylor released Wade and he opted to step inside the covering defender instead of turning on the gas to the corner.
Trailing 37-3 at the interval, a Bristol fightback always seemed unlikely but they showed intent to give it a go when Jack Lam drove over to score after Ross McMillan had been stopped just short of the line.
But business was resumed for Wasps when Wade stepped the on-rushing tackler outside the 22 and found a gap in the defence, before having the footwork to beat Jordan Williams when one-on-one.
A few minutes later replacement Ashley Johnson crossed for Wasps' seventh score of the afternoon by finishing off a driving maul to cross the 50-point mark.
And Cipriani made it 56 points in 56 minutes when he exchanged a one-two with Frank Halai before showing his speed to run 50 metres into the corner.
Bristol gave their fans something to cheer about just before the hour when Mitch Eadie spotted a gap and slid over, as Pisi’s conversion made it 56-15.
The 60-point mark was breached on 67 minutes though when Johnson powered over once more, as Gopperth's conversion made it an impressive 63-15.
The losing bonus point had long been off the table for Bristol but their hopes of securing something out of the game were kept alive with a third try via Gaston Cortes, following the TMO checking there was no issue with a knock-on or the grounding.
The visitors' points difference continued to suffer though as Daly finished off a move following good feet from Kyle Eastmond wide left for Wasps' tenth try of the afternoon.
Even with the clock in the red, Young's men were not content and looked set to break the Premiership points record when the ball was moved left, only for Daly to deliver a wayward pass which resulted in a knock-on.
So Wasps were unable to make history but it was still an unforgettable afternoon for all those inside the Ricoh Arena.
The scorers:
For Wasps:
Tries: Taylor, Daly 2, Cooper-Woolley, Symons, Wade 2, Johnson 2, Cipriani
Cons: Gopperth 7
Pens: Gopperth 2
For Bristol:
Tries: Lam, Eadie, Cortes
Cons: Pisi, Jarvis
Pen: Pisi
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Guy Thompson, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Alex Rieder, 5 James Gaskell (captain), 4 Matt Symons, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Simon McIntyre.
Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Craig Hampson, 22 Kyle Eastmond, 23 Josh Bassett.
Bristol: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Ryan Edwards, 13 William Hurrell, 12 Thretton Palamo, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Mitch Eadie, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Jack Lam (captain), 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Ian Evans, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Ross McMillan, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Chris Brooker, 17 Soane Tonga’uiha, 18 Gaston Cortes, 19 James Phillips, 20 Jordan Crane, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Adrian Jarvis, 23 Ben Mosses.
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Assistant Referees: Ross Campbell, Gareth Copsey
TMO: Keith Lewis
Newcastle Falcons 13-14 Leicester Tigers
Newcastle made a fast start in front of their vocal supporters and raced into the lead as scrumhalf Sonatane Takulua created a hole in Leicester's defence before passing to Juan Pablo Socino, who burst through to score.
The hosts continued on the front foot as former Tigers player Vereniki Goneva made a break from his own 22, before JP Pietersen conceded a penalty.
Falcons kicker Mike Delany sent it wide, but he made no mistake two minutes later to give his side a 10-point lead.
It took 23 minutes for the Tigers to burst into life, but once they did they found the try line as Ben Youngs off-loaded neatly to Mike Fitzgerald on the blindside to score.
Freddie Burns may have missed the conversion, but he kicked a penalty minutes later to close the gap to just two points.
With regular centre Chris Harris injured, Falcons Director of Rugby Dean Richards selected Dominic Waldouck – fresh after signing a new deal this week.
And the 28-year-old almost capped off a fine week with a try after a kind bounce fell his way but the referee pulled him back for double movement after he crossed the line.
Leicester's sloppiness almost cost them again after the break as Simon Hammersley intercepted a pass down the right and sprinted for the tryline, only for Matthew Tait to deny him with a late tackle.
The Tigers took the lead for the first time a few minutes later as Burns converted another penalty from the Falcons 10-metre line, but Newcastle almost stole it back when a neat grubber kick found Goneva in space but he knocked on while trying to collect it.
Handling errors were a feature throughout the match, as Ellis Genge undid all of Leicester's hard work by misplacing an off-load just metres from the Falcons line after Pietersen's initial break.
With the wind swirling around kicking proved to be difficult as Burns sent one wide, but a couple of minutes later he stretched the Tigers' lead with a 40-metre effort.
Newcastle charged up the other end and wreaked havoc as Michael Young collected his own kick and rushed through Leicester's defence.
A late tackle thwarted him, but the hosts moved it wide and Daniel Temm seemingly touched down in the corner, only for the TMO to rule it out for a foot in touch.
The visitors lost Peter Betham to the sin-bin after that phase and substitute Joel Hodgson cut the gap to one point with a penalty.
Newcastle threw everything at Leicester in the dying seconds as they tried to score before Hodgson's crucial miss after a drop goal attempt.
The scorers:
Newcastle Falcons:
Try: Socino
Con: Delaney
Pens: Delaney, Hodgson
For Leicester Tigers:
Tries: Fitzgerald
Pens: Burns 3
Teams:
Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Dominic Waldouck, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Evan Olmstead, 4 Calum Green, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Sam Lockwood.
Replacements: 16 Ben Sowrey, 17 Rob Vickers, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Will Witty, 20 Dan Temm, 21 Michael Young, 22 Joel Hodgson, 23 Belisario Agulla.
Leicester: 15 Mathew Tait (captain), 14 Telusa Veainu, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Owen Williams, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Luke Hamilton, 7 Brendon O'Connor, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Mike Fitzgerald, 3 Dan Cole, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Greg Bateman, 19 Ed Slater, 20 Will Evans, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Jack Roberts, 23 Adam Thompstone.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant Referees: Peter Allan, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Rowan Kitt
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