Wasps chief Tony Hanks said his side showed character in beating Leeds in the Aviva Premiership on Sunday.
Wasps boss pleased with response to last weekend's home defeat
Wasps director of rugby Tony Hanks said his side showed character in coming back from last weekend's loss to Northampton and beating Leeds in the Aviva Premiership on Sunday.
Hanks' side beat the league strugglers 17-8, with scrum-half Joe Simpson scoring a superb individual try in the first half before Tom Rees crossed from close range at the start of the second.
Although Luther Burrell pulled a try back for Leeds, they could not haul themselves back into contention and succumbed to their seventh straight league loss.
They therefore stand rock bottom of the Premiership but for Wasps and Hanks, the win brought a shot in the arm following their dismal 37-10 home defeat to the Saints.
Hanks said: "Wasps don't lose games like that last week and emotionally it took a lot out of us.
"The guys have taken a bit of a battering but they are their own biggest critics.
"They've looked at themselves in the mirror and thought 'we need to be better than that as a team'.
Lifeline
"I'm pleased with the way we responded but it has to be a stepping stone towards greater consistency."
Ceiron Thomas got Leeds off the mark with a penalty on the stroke of half-time and they went into the interval 7-3 down before Rees's converted try pushed Wasps further ahead.
Leeds then threw themselves a lifeline just short of the hour-mark when Scott Mathie and Henry Fa'afili combined to send Burrell scampering clear.
Thomas failed to convert, though, and although the hosts rallied late on, there was no way back.
Leeds director of rugby Andy Key said: "We had little to show for all our possession and that's probably come down to a lot of unforced errors and mistakes a crucial times.
"It really is difficult to put our finger on why these things are happening, because they have to change if we are to get our first win.
"We fancied our chances massively today but we also knew Wasps were coming off the back of a bad defeat against Northampton.
"We knew that they would be coming here to compete hard and you could see that at the breakdown."
