Wasps sting the Tigers

Christian Wade scored the only try of the game as London Wasps ensured that Leicester Tigers' miserable record at Adams Park continues.

The reigning Premiership champions have not emerged victorious from a trip to High Wycombe since 2007 and former Tiger Andy Goode was the main reason that wait continues.

* In the other Sunday game Newcastle Falcons claimed their first home win in the Premiership this season with a hard-fought success against London Irish.

Adam Powell's second-half try and Phil Godman's conversion proved vital for the hosts but both Ian Humphreys and Shane Geraghty missed kickable penalties to win it late on for the Exiles.

We look at Sunday's action!

London Wasps 22-12 Leicester Tigers

Christian Wade scored the only try of the game as London Wasps ensured that Leicester Tigers' miserable record at Adams Park continues.

The reigning Premiership champions have not emerged victorious from a trip to High Wycombe since 2007 and former Tiger Andy Goode was the main reason that wait continues.

The flyhalf pulled the strings all afternoon, setting up Wade's try in the first half and then keeping the visitors at bay with two drop goals in the second half.

This was only Wasps second win in their last 13 Premiership fixtures but against an under-strength Leicester they impressed in windy conditions.

Owen Williams slotted four penalties for the visitors, who had 13 players out injured while Dan Cole, Toby Flood, Geoff Parling, and Ben and Tom Youngs were all retained by the England squad.

The Welshman, making his first Premiership start, was off target with two long-range penalties in the first five minutes as Tigers made most of the early running.

But with their first opportunity of the match it was Wasps who struck first, thanks in no small part to the quick thinking of former Tiger Goode.

The flyhalf took a quick tap from a free-kick and burst through the middle of an unsuspecting Tigers pack to set up field position deep in the 22.

And when the ball was spread right skipper Chris Bell floated a lovely pass with his left hand out to Wade and the wing had the simplest of tasks to dot down.

Goode added the extras from wide out but the seven point lead did not last long, Williams finding his range from much closer in with a penalty to make it 7-3.

The rest of the half saw Goode and Williams trade penalties as both sides struggled to make an impression with ball in hand and the sides went in at the interval with Wasps 13-9 to the good.

It was the Tigers that made the brighter start to the second half and Carlo Festuccia was sent to the sin bin for the hosts as Wasps continued to infringe in their own 22.

Those 10 minutes with the Italian in the bin were spent almost entirely with Tigers on the front foot but Wasps defended manfully and actually extended their lead thanks to the opportunism of Goode.

The flyhalf slotted a drop goal in the 52nd minute after a rare Wasps foray into the Leicester half.

And two minutes later Goode was clearly starting to enjoy himself as he repeated the trick, this time from further out, to put Wasps 19-9 ahead as Festuccia returned.

As the game ticked past the hour mark Tigers began to chase the game and a few errors crept in as a result.

But Goode was off target with a long-range penalty that could have punished the Tigers and the visitors came roaring back.

First Williams slotted his fourth penalty of the game in the 68th minute to make it 19-12 and get the Tigers in position to claim a losing bonus point.

But the reigning champions wanted more than that from the game and pushed hard without ever really looking like finding the try that would level the scores.

And the game was up in the 76th minute when Goode slotted his third penalty of the night for a 17-point total and to deny his former employers a losing bonus point.

The scorers:

For Wasps:

Try: Wade

Con: Goode

Pens: Goode 3

DGs: Goode 2

For Leicester:

Pens: Williams 4

Yellow card: Carlo Festuccia (London Wasps, 44)

Teams:

London Wasps: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Ben Jacobs, 12 Chris Bell (captain), 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Ed Jackson, 7 Guy Thompson, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matt Mullan.

Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Will Taylor, 19 James Cannon, 20 James Haskell, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Joe Carlisle, 23 Charlie Hayter.

Leicester Tigers: 15 Niall Morris, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Terrence Hepetema, 12 Dan Bowden, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Owen Williams, 9 David Mélé, 9 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Ed Slater, 4 Louis Deacon (captain), 3 Logovi'i Mulipola, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 Marcos Ayerza.

Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Sebastian de Chaves, 20 Jordan Crane, 21 Pablo Matera, 22 Miles Benjamin, 23 Sam Harrison.

Referee: Andrew Small

Assistant referees: Andy Watson, Roger Baileff

TMO: Geoff Warren

Newcastle Falcons 13-11 London Irish

Newcastle Falcons claimed their first home win in the Premiership this season with a hard-fought success against London Irish.

Adam Powell's second-half try and Phil Godman's conversion proved vital for the hosts but both Ian Humphreys and Shane Geraghty missed kickable penalties to win it late on for the Exiles.

The victory sees Dean Richards' side leapfrog their opponents and climb up to eighth in the Premiership table but they certainly had to earn it the hard way at Kingston Park.

Ofisa Treviranus went over for the Exiles in the first half but Humphreys and Rory Clegg were both wayward from the kicking tee all game long to keep it a low-scoring affair.

All week the Falcons have spoken about making their home a fortress this season after defeats against Gloucester and Bath.

Irish meanwhile came into the clash with three wins in a row in all competitions stretching back to their surprise success over Harlequins in the Premiership.

But wet, slick conditions made free-flowing rugby difficult for both sides and it was Richards' troops that had the chance to open the scoring but Clegg's penalty drifted wide.

And the Falcons were made to pay for that profligacy as Irish notched the first try of the game, just reward for their invention in the opening stages.

Sailosi Tagicakibau came off his wing looking for work and quick hands involving Topsy Ojo down the short side put flanker Treviranus over in the tenth minute, Humphreys off target with the conversion.

That score appeared to wake the Falcons from their slumber however and they finally began to exert some influence with ball in hand.

And they got on the board in the 18th minute as Clegg made up for his earlier miss by slotting two penalties to make it 6-5.

But on the stroke of half-time Irish were back in front as Humphreys slotted his first penalty of the game for an 8-6 lead.

After the interval the Irish pack appeared to have had a re-think and they began to get a nudge on at scrum-time, winning a penalty in a kickable position in the 44th minute that Humphreys dragged wide.

Clegg followed suit for the Falcons, pulling his long range penalty wide in the 49th minute as both sides struggled for rhythm.

The game was becoming something of a kicking contest as both sides traded bombs in the swirling wind but the Exiles remained the more adventurous.

Humphreys finally slotted a penalty for an 11-6 lead and the Falcons were right up against it.

But gradually they began to turn the screw after the hour mark and it finally told when Powell skipped clear to touch down, Phil Godman on as a replacement for Clegg added the conversion and the Falcons were 13-11 up.

Humphreys missed almost immediately with a long-range penalty before being replaced by Shane Geraghty.

And the England international had the chance to win it with the last kick of the game but his effort fell agonisingly short and the Falcons held on to take what could prove to be a crucial win.

The scorers:

For Newcastle:

Try: Powell

Con: Godman

Pens: Clegg 2

For London Irish:

Try: Treviranus

Pens: Humphreys 2

Teams:

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Tom Catterick, 13 Danny Barnes, 12 Adam Powell, 11 Ryan Shortland, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Ally Hogg (captain), 7 Mark Wilson, 6 Dom Barrow, 5 Fraser McKenzie, 4 Carlo del Fava, 3 Oliver Tomaszczyk, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Rob Vickers.

Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Grant Shiells, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Scott MacLeod, 20 Will Welch, 21 Warren Fury, 22 Phil Godman, 23 James Fitzpatrick.

London Irish: 15 Topsy Ojo, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Eamonn Sheridan, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Tomás O'Leary, 8 Chris Hala'ufia 7 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Ian Gough, 6 Blair Cowan, 4 George Skivington (Captain), 3 Leo Halavatau, 2 David Paice, 1 John Yapp.

Replacements: 16 Mike Mayhew, 17 Matt Parr, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Bryn Evans, 20 Jebb Sinclair, 21 Guy Armitage, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Darren Allinson.

Referee: Gregory Garner

Assistant referees: Luke Pearce, Gordon Goodliffe

TMO: Keith Lewis