Wasps defeated Gloucester 49-24, while there were also victories in the English Premiership for Worcester, Newcastle, Exeter, Sale and Saracens.
It was the most anticipated contest of round 11, but Wasps looked a class above Johan Ackermann’s Gloucester at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry as they surged to a bonus-point win.
In doing so, Wasps ended Gloucester’s five-match winning streak in the competition and leapfrogged their victims to second place on the log.
Willie le Roux starred for the hosts, scoring the opening try of the match before creating one for teammate Christian Wade, but Gloucester did enough to take a 17-15 lead at the break.
Wasps overturned the slender deficit in the second half and then pulled away on the scoreboard to secure an emphatic victory.
Elsewhere, the Worcester Warriors beat London Irish 23-8, the Newcastle Falcons stunned Harlequins 11-10 to climb above Quins in the standings, the Exeter Chiefs extended their lead at the top of the table with a 35-14 bonus-point victory against the Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens and Josh Strauss scored a try as Sale hammered Bath 32-9 at home in Eccles.
On Sunday, Saracens ended a seven-match losing streak with a 29-17 win against Leicester at Welford Road. Tigers wing Jonny May received two yellow cards for deliberate knock-downs, the second which came with 13 minutes to go. Leicester have now suffered five consecutive defeats.
Round 11 results:
Wasps 49 Gloucester 24
Newcastle Falcons 11 Harlequins 10
Worcester Warriors 23 London Irish 8
Northampton Saints 14 Exeter Chiefs 35
Sale Sharks 32 Bath 9
Leicester Tigers 17 Saracens 29
Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
