Aviva Premiership: Strong second half sees London Irish beat Wasps

Wasps lock James Cannon is tackled

Chris Hala'ufia: Breaks through a pair of tacklers

London Irish climbed to 10th place in the Aviva Premiership table after claiming an impressive 30-19 win over Wasps at the Madejski Stadium.

Shane Geraghty and Marland Yarde both crossed the try-line, while Tom Homer added a total of 20 points from the kicking tee.

Wasps led 16-14 at half-time after a fine finish from Christian Wade but the hosts stepped things up a gear in the second half and were comfortable winners in the end.

Irish are now five points clear of bottom club Sale, who they face along with fellow strugglers London Welsh and Worcester in their three remaining home fixtures.

Homer struck his first penalty against the post but minutes later the full-back was given an easier opportunity and this time made no mistake.

Irish continued to be the livelier side and went close through Halani Aulika and Yarde, the former held up over the line and the latter forced into touch by Wade as he attempted to score.

Homer extended the Irish lead after 13 minutes with a simple penalty before Stephen Jones grabbed three points of his own.

Some quick thinking then allowed the hosts to score the opening try as Ian Humphreys took a quick tap penalty, with the ball then being spread out to Geraghty for the score.

But Wasps steadily grew in confidence and reduced the deficit to 11-9 with two more Jones penalties before Wade evaded two tackles to squeeze in at the corner for a converted try.

Just before half-time Homer kicked his third penalty but Irish still trailed, and the home side suffered a double blow soon after the restart when Chris Hala'ufia was sin-binned for a dangerous challenge and Jones kicked the resulting penalty.

But Irish made light of the one-man disadvantage as Homer slotted over his fourth penalty before Hala'ufia made a powerful run on his return to feed Ofisa Treviranus, who slipped in Yarde for a try.

Homer converted and then kicked another penalty to give the hosts a 27-19 lead going into the closing stages, and the full-back made the points completely safe with another three-pointer late on.

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