Tight battle: Hayden Smith wins a line-out
Related links
Teams
Also see
Saracens held on for a 22-17 Aviva Premiership victory over London Wasps at Adams Park on Sunday.
Full-back Alex Goode's strong display with the boot proved enough to give Saracens a narrow victory.
Wasps out-scored their visitors two tries to one, but their indiscipline proved costly as Goode capitalised on the opportunities afforded to him to boot over 17 of his side's 22 points.
Wasps got off to the perfect start when, in the third minute, when Billy Vuniploa crossed for a try following good play by Riki Flutey and Nick Robinson.
Robinson added the conversion to put Wasps seven points up, but Saracens roared back before the mid-way point of the first half courtesy of two Goode penalties and a interception try from James Short.
Goode's conversion made it 7-13 in favour of the visitors but Wasps were back in front when Tom Lindsay collected Robinson's high bomb to cross the line. Robinson added the extras to give his side the slenderest of leads.
But it was Saracens who headed into the interval in charge, courtesy of Goode's third successful penalty of the afternoon.
The second half began positively for the visitors, with Goode continuing to torment Wasps with his deft eye for goal.
An early penalty made it 14-19 to Saracens, who defended their lead well for the remainder of the match.
Wasps tried in vein to find the try that would put them in front, but the best they could muster in a frustrating final quarter was a Robinson penalty goal just over ten minutes from time, which was cancelled almost immediately by the ever-reliable Goode.
The scorers:
For Wasps:
Tries: Vunipola, Lindsay
Cons: Robinson 2
Pens: Robinson
For Saracens:
Try: Short
Con: Goode
Pens: Goode 5
London Wasps: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Richard Haughton, 13 Dom Waldouck, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Nick Robinson, 9 Nic Berry, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 Richard Birkett, 5 Marco Wentzel (c), 4 Ed O'Donoghue, 2 Ben Broster, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Vladislav Korshunov, 17 Zak Taulafo, 18 Simon McIntyre, 19 Heinz Koll, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Tom Prydie.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Duncan Taylor, 13 Chris Wyles, 12 Adam Powell, 11 James Short, 10 Nils Mordt, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Andy Saull, 6 Justin Melck, 5 Hayden Smith, 4 George Kruis, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Jamie George, 1 John Smit.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Hugh Vyvyan, 20 Will Fraser, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Joel Tomkins, 23 Michael Tagicakibau.
Venue: Adams Park
Referee: Martin Fox
Comments
melkdave says...
Well an improvment from wasps as players start to come back from injury.Question is it to late ?? as they are looking at a serious relegation battle now.On a side note why are league matches being played during the 6Ns .Surly this would be the oppotune time to finish the LV cup off and give young talant a major runout ect when senior players are on international duty.The whole season in the NH is a mess atm imo I would start the season with league games and instead of H/Cup games before the winter internationals Start the LV cup and play it to we have a winner.even if it goes on during the winter internationals ensuring young talant gets gametime when senior players are on international duty. .We should be aiming to have the leagues and H/Cup finished by mid April imo then play the 6Ns .So players are already international match fit ect before the tours well rant over lol
Posted 18:14 12th February 2012