Beale enjoys dream Wasps debut
The Australian star stretched to score on his first match for seven months, before Nathan Hughes and Joe Launchbury crossed for tries. Josh Bassett was then put in by Beale to bag the try-scoring bonus-point.
Connacht were right in the Coventry encounter after scores from Kieran Marmion and Rory Parata, but their challenge faded and they are now three points behind Wasps in the race for the quarterfinals.
The Ricoh Arena crowd turned out to see Australia superstar Beale strut his stuff on the European stage. And they did not have to wait long to see him cross the whitewash to give his new side an early lead. Beale received the ball five metres out before he spun out of a collision with Stacey Ili and stretched over the line to score. Gopperth added the extras to give the hosts an early 7-0 lead.
But Beale's dream debut turned slightly sour when he was sin-binned for a high tackle on Niyi Adeolokun. Carty got his side on the scoreboard from the resulting penalty, before Gopperth landed one of his own.
But Pat Lam's men fought-back to level the scores through Marmion. The pack shunted Wasps back at a scrum, before captain John Muldoon scooped up the ball and found the Ireland scrum-half, who darted over to score. However, Gopperth landed a penalty to give his men a 13-10 lead at half-time.
Dai Young's half-time team-talk clearly made a positive impression. Ashley Johnson powered into the heart of the Connacht defence before England no.8 Hughes barged his way over the line. Gopperth's conversion is successful, and Wasps lead 20-10.
But replacement Perata made sure the game would not get away from his side when he picked off a pass from Gopperth and raced home to score at the posts. But Launchbury, who had led the defensive effort in the second-half, scored the decisive try after 64 minutes. The skipper received a long pass from Gopperth and charged over the line.
And the bonus-point was wrapped up in the final 10 minutes when Beale showed his class to put Bassett in at the corner with some deft handling.
The scorers:
For Wasps:
Tries: Beale, Hughes, Launchbury, Bassett
Cons: Gopperth 3
Pens: Gopperth 2
For Connacht:
Tries: Marmion, Parata
Cons: Carty 2
Pen: Carty
Yellow card: Kurtley Beale (Wasps, 17 – foul play, high tackle)
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alapati Leiua, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Joe Launchbury (captain), 3 Marty Moore, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Alex Rieder, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Brendan Macken, 23 Frank Halai.
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Stacey Ili, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Cian Kelleher, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 John Muldoon (captain), 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Nepia Fox-Matamua, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Conor Carey, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 JP Cooney, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Sean O’Brien, 20 Eoin McKeon, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Rory Parata, 23 Matt Healy.
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Assistant referees: Cédric Marchat (France), Cédric Clave (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)
Source: @ChampionsCup
