Wasps sting flat Connacht

Connacht fell to their first Champion’s Cup defeat of the campaign as Wasps emerged 32-17 winners in the Ricoh arena.

Pat Lam’s side, despite reducing the score throughout the tie, struggled to handle the Wasps pace and power, and failed to secure a losing bonus-point as the home-team controlled the majority of the second-half.

New star signing, Kurtley Beale, registered the first try of the game six minutes into his eventful Wasp’s debut, before receiving a harsh yellow-card for a high tackle on Niyi Adeolokun.

Jack Carty kicked over a penalty, in what was the fly-half’s second attempt after kicking wide earlier in the tie, before the impressive Kieran Marmion went over for the visitor’s first try; when great work from captain John Muldoon created space for the 24-year-old.

Carty converted the try to level up the crunch-clash, but the hosts went into the interval with a slender lead when former Leinster man Jimmy Gopperth kicked over a penalty for the hosts.

Nathan Hughes displayed great power to give Wasps a 20-10 before Connacht substitution Rory Porata capitalised on Gopperth’s poor pass to run over, and reduce the deficit to three points.

Joe Launchbury – who was arguably the best player on the field in the second-half – re-established the English side’s ten-point lead before the home-side’s went over in the 73^rd minute to claim their bonus-point win when Beale, passed into Josh Bassett who crossed the line for his third European try of the season.

eir Sport channels are available across the eir Vision, Sky and Vodafone TV platforms as well as on the eir Sport app. All 6 channels in the eir Sport pack are available for free if you are a residential eir broadband customer.