Aviva Premiership: Owen Farrell helps Saracens see off Wasps
Saracens maintained their perfect start to the new Aviva Premiership season with a 19-12 victory over London Wasps.
Last Updated: 05/10/13 6:08pm
The visitors actually scored two tries to one, captain Chris Bell grabbing both, to help them secure a deserved losing bonus point in the battle of two teams at the opposite end of the table.
Wasps had ended a run of 11 successive defeats by beating basement boys Worcester last time out and only trailed 3-0 at the break.
However Sarries grabbed the opening try of the game through Will Fraser and Owen Farrell stepped off the bench to add the conversion and three penalties.
Alex Goode had started the afternoon at fly-half and it was his sixth-minute penalty that separated the sides at the end of the first 40 minutes.
Survived
Wasps managed to survive the sin-binning of lock Kearnan Myall in the 26th minute for an off-the-ball challenge which left Fraser requiring treatment, Goode missing the resulting long-range penalty.
Only the left boot of winger Josh Bassett denied Chris Ashton a try in the right-hand corner as the hosts failed to make the most of their numerical advantage.
Both sides switched their fly-halves for the start of the second half. Farrell replaced Ben Ransom, while Wasps brought on Andy Goode in place of the injured Elliott Daly.
Farrell missed an early chance to get on the scoresheet when he put a straightforward penalty wide but he made amends two minutes later, starting the move which led to flanker Fraser going over in the left corner.
Wasps with a try of their own from skipper Bell, brilliantly created by Christian Wade, but their hopes of an upset on their travels were dashed by Farrell's boot.
His hat-trick of penalties meant Sarries could even afford to concede again in the closing stages, Bell scoring a try that Andy Goode converted after Ashton had been sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on.
