Wasps 38-30 London Irish: Wasps beat Exiles in Boxing Day high scoring thriller

A clinical Wasps attack helped them beat London Irish 38-30 in an entertaining Premiership match.

Two early tries helped Wasps build a 14-3 lead before Ollie Hassell-Collins' pace enabled the winger to go over unopposed to keep Irish in the game.

Hooker Dan Frost twice crashed over for Wasps, either side of a brace by his opposite number Agustin Creevy.

Irish missed four conversions which gave Wasps breathing space to secure a much-needed fourth win of the season.

Victory moved them up to eighth in the table, a place and three points behind the Exiles.

An early Paddy Jackson penalty put Irish in front, only for Ali Crossdale's explosive break down the left to give the home side the first try moments later.

Crossdale was tackled just short of the line but momentum took the full-back over, and Les Kiss' side again cursed their luck when loose play resulted in a knock-on and Frost opportunistically touched the ball down.

Hassell-Collins responded by pulling Wasps out of shape with electric speed, with Jackson's missed conversion keeping the score at 14-8.

Jimmy Gopperth's kicking was more consistent as he scored a penalty, before converting after Alfie Barbeary sucked in visiting defenders following a maul to score on the blind side.

Just as Wasps looked comfortable, Creevy scored from close range and then pushed his way over following a great drive to trail 25-18 at the break.

Frost then got his sixth try in six appearances for the club to earn a bonus point with an easy fall over the line, before another Gopperth penalty extended the home side's lead to 17 points with an hour played.

Irish substitute hooker Tadgh McElroy hoped to set up a tense finish when he grabbed a try, but those hopes were crushed when team-mate Curtis Rona had a try ruled out for an obstruction.

Wasps fly-half Jacob Umaga was shown a red card for a high tackle and the man advantage helped Ben White score, but with only two minutes left on the clock, the home side were undeterred.

Wasps: Crossdale; Hougaard, Bassett, Gopperth, Mehson; Umaga, Wolstenholme; West, Frost, Alo, Fifita, Stooke, Barbeary, Shields (capt), Young.

Replacements: Cruse, Martinez, Toomaga-Allen, Cardall, Young, Porter, Le Bourgeois, Kibirige.

London Irish: Parton; Rowe, Rona, Van Rensburg, Hassell-Collins; Jackson, Phipps; Goodrick-Clarke, Creevy, Hoskins, Mafi, Simmons, Rogerson (capt), Pearson, Cracknell.

Replacements: McElroy, Dell, Van der Merwe, Nott, Gonzalez, White, Williams, Cinti.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys.