Wasps end losing streak at Franklins Gardens

Andrew Baldock 21:56 30/01/2016
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  • Fronting up: Nathan Hughes.

    Impressive Wasps defeated Northampton Saints in testing conditions to win at Franklin’s Gardens for the first time since for 11 years.

    Scrum-half Dan Robson scored their first try when he raced through a gap and touched down before Rob Miller pounced for a second five-pointer. Josh Bassett’s score helped stretch it 24-3 to the visitors at the break. Sam Dickinson went over in the corner for Saints but a comeback never looked likely.

    Wasps Director of Rugby, Dai Young, said: “We’ve got to enjoy it. It’s more than 10 years since we last won here, so hopefully it won’t be another 10 years again. I thought the boys really made the right decisions – I couldn’t have asked any more of them.”

    Meanwhile, Saracens boss Mark McCall has backed his squad to thrive during what he admits is a “very demanding” phase of their campaign. The current Premiership leaders will be without England contingent Owen Farrell, Alex Goode, Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, George Kruis and Billy Vunipola for today’s Allianz Park appointment with ninth-placed Bath.

    While England and their new head coach Eddie Jones focus on the Six Nations Championship, which starts next week, Saracens’ mission is purely a relentless pursuit of more priceless points.

    “Our attention is solely focused on a challenging block of Premiership games throughout the Six Nations,” Saracens rugby director McCall said. “From the beginning of the season, we knew this period of the season would be very demanding, and we are confident that we have the calibre of players across the squad to thrive during this run of games.

    “Bath will be a real test of where we are at squad-wise, as they are a quality outfit and we know that they possess some very good players who are capable of winning big games.”

    Saracens go into battle with a three-point advantage over fellow European Champions Cup quarterfinalists Exeter, who visit Worcester on Sunday, while fellow play-off contenders Harlequins and Leicester will also look to consolidate top-four places this weekend.

    Quins are away to Newcastle on Sundaym with Leicester in action at Gloucester 24 hours earlier, where they will be without England centre Manu Tuilagi, who is sidelined by a hamstring injury after just three comeback appearances following serious groin trouble that meant he was unavailable for 15 months.

    “Manu has just tweaked a hamstring, which will probably mean a couple of weeks out,” Leicester rugby director Richard Cockerill said.

    For their part, Gloucester return to domestic action following an unbeaten march to the European Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

    “It is going to be a huge test for us,” rugby director David Humphreys said. “They (Leicester) are a team who have been going well. They were obviously successful last year, finishing in the top four.”

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