Gopperth keeps his nerve to grab glory

By ROB WILDMAN

Wasps …………….27pts

Tries: Robson 24, Launchbury 40, West 66

Conversions: Gopperth 24, 40, 66

Penalties: Gopperth 52, 77

Newcastle ……..24pts

Tries: McGuigan 20, 34, 63

Conversions: Haydon-Wood 20, 34, 63

Penalties: Haydon-Wood 14

JIMMY Gopperth produced another match-wining moment to earn “rusty” Wasps a valuable victory against one of his old teams.

His pressure kick in the 77th minute, from the left touchline, put Wasps ahead for the first time in a match which was also blighted by aimless midfield kicking.

“There’s no one better in such situations,” Wasps boss Lee Blackett said about the 38-year-old whose second penalty of the afternoon sealed his team’s ninth win in the Premiership this season.

The points are much needed win for an out-ofform squad described by Blackett as “rusty” due to injuries and international calls.

For Newcastle, it was a luckless afternoon because they had the better of a stop-start match and only fell behind when Gopperth stepped up late on.

An already injury-hit squad were not helped by a first-half knock to No 8 Callum Chick who limped off after only 13 minutes.

Newcastle led 17-14 at half-time and looked to have grabbed a winning advantage when hooker George McGuigan completed a hat-trick of tries in the 61st minute.

With Will Haydon-Wood adding the conversion, Newcastle led 24-17 going into the final quarter only to be overhauled.

Wasps finished the stronger and a try from prop Tom West plus Gop-perth’s conversion and penalty proved decisive.

Newcastle, searching for a first Premiership win in 2022, deserved their halftime lead of 17-14 and should have led by more but Haydon-Wood missed one simple penalty and they conceded a needless try just before half-time.

Having scrapped well to build a first-half lead, Newcastle conceded two penalties at the end of the half which allowed Wasps to set up pressure ending in a try for Joe Launchbury.

Gopperth added the extras to go alongside his earlier conversion of Dan Robson’s try, on his 150th appearance, following good work by Jack Willis.

Apart from those moments, Wasps struggled against a visiting pack who controlled line-out possession and made the most of scrum penalties.

Hooker McGuigan scored both tries. His first came in support of Adam Brocklebank’s outstanding break from his own half, the prop out-running the cover to get within a few metres of the try line.

McGuigan’s second score was more routine and came off a line-out after Wasps had penalised on halfway at a scrum.

Haydon-Wood converted both tries and added a penalty in the 14th minute, but he will not want to be reminded about the easy three-pointer he cranked wide in the 31st.

Wasps started the second half far better and gained a Gopperth penalty for ten minutes of dominance.

The match eventually took off on the hour mark following the sin-binning of Wasps substitute scrum-half Will Porter. Referee Andrew Jackson harshly ruling that he had deliberately palmed the ball into touch.

Newcastle took full advantage of the chance to set up McGuigan for his third try, the hooker finishing off another charge from a line-out. Haydon-Wood added the difficult conversion for a lead of 24-17.

That triggered Wasps’ best spell of the match and they began to edge the breakdowns leading to penalties. That factor allowed them to work West over for a try and then, finally, to grab a penalty for Gopperth to land from the left touchline.