Wasps director of rugby Tony Hanks paid tribute to his forwards after watching his side run out 22-16 victors against Sale on Sunday.
Wasps chief says credit is due after solid performance
Wasps director of rugby Tony Hanks paid tribute to his forwards after watching his side run out 22-16 victors against Sale on Sunday.
The scrum had come under fire this season, particularly after the recent defeat at Leicester, but they fronted up on this occasion as they forced the Sharks into a serious of errors upon which Danny Cipriani capitalised.
The fly-half kicked six successful goals from as many attempts to earn his side a win that moves them closer to fourth-placed London Irish, who lost at home to Bath.
"We thoroughly deserved to win the game, there is no question about that," said Hanks. "I thought we were all over them and it was built on a fantastic scrummaging display.
"The guys have been under the pump and we said after Leicester that we had four weeks to go and work on a few things.
"I think everybody in the country knew the scrum was one of them and I thought the guys really responded today."
Sale boss Kingsley Jones was still smarting from an apparent forward pass that went unpunished in the run-up to Ben Jacobs' 14th minute penalty.
"To win away in the Premiership is tough and you don't need wrong decisions at that point in the game," he said.
"The difference in the points was down to the officials. It (the forward pass) was ridiculous."
Jones also rued the indiscipline that handed a dozen points to the boot of Cipriani.
"I thought we gifted Wasps points unnecessarily," he added. "It was a soft missed tackle before the forward pass, which was disappointing, and we dropped a lot of ball without much pressure."
