Wing Christian Wade scored six tries as Wasps hammered Worcester 54-35, while there were also Premiership wins for Gloucester, Saracens, Leicester, Sale and Newcastle.
Wade, playing in his 100th match for Wasps, scored a first-half hat-trick as his side took an 18-point lead into the break. The Warriors hit back with four second-half tries, but missed conversions and three more converted Wasps’ tries put the game beyond the hosts.
Worcester centre Ryan Mills opened the scoring with a penalty kick in the first minute. Winger Frank Halai then opened Wasps’ account when he crossed in the seventh minute, with centre Elliot Daly adding the extras. Wade then scored his first try of the match, before Francois Hougaard went over for the hosts to close the gap.
Wade crossed for two more scores to complete his hat-trick inside the half-hour mark. Wing Cooper Vuna went over for the Warriors’ second try before Wade added his fourth to give Wasps a 33-15 lead at half-time.
Worcester replacement centre Andy Symons scored first after the break, but two more converted tries from Wade gave Wasps a 27-point lead with 25 minutes to play. Worcester scored three more tries through No 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, centre Bryce Heem and flank Carl Kirwan, but the missed conversions and a converted try by Wasps replacement pivot Alex Lozowski secured the win and moved the visitors into second place on the table.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Saracens beat Harlequins 22-12, outscoring the visitors three tries to nil at Allianz Park, while the Leicester Tigers led from start to finish at Franklin’s Gardens as they beat the Northampton Saints 30-24.
On Sunday, the Sale Sharks scored two late tries to beat Bath 29-17 at AJ Bell Stadium after the visitors fought back to level matters at 17-17 with 24 minutes to play, while the Newcastle Falcons beat London Irish 13-6 at Kingston Park after leading 10-6 at the break.
On Friday, Gloucester scrumhalf and captain Greig Laidlaw kicked 11 points as the Cherry and Whites beat the Exeter Chiefs 16-9 at Kingsholm.
Round 20 results:
Gloucester 16 Exeter Chiefs 9
Worcester Warriors 35 Wasps 54
Saracens 22 Harlequins 12
Northampton Saints 24 Leicester Tigers 30
Sale Sharks Bath 17
Newcastle Falcons 13 London Irish 6
Photo: Tony Marshall/Getty Images
