Match summary - Wasps 41-24 BATH RUGBY

Bath Rugby fell to a second successive Gallagher Premiership defeat to a scoreline that didn't reflect the performance.

Wasps scored seven tries, to Bath's three, but it was only when the visitors were reduced to 13 men that they took control.

Until that point, the Blue, Black and White looked assured even with 14 players. Ben Spencer's try and Orlando Bailey's boot gave Bath a second-half advantage following Semesa Rokoduguni's red card.

Tom de Glanville was then sent to the sin-bin on 68 minutes while going for an intercept and knocking on. From that point, Wasps ran in four tries to claim a bonus-point win.

TEAM NEWS

Bath Rugby made five changes to the side that started in last week's away defeat to Saracens.

Welsh international Tom Prydie started at full back allowing Semesa Rokoduguni to return to his more familiar position on the wing.

Orlando Bailey, fresh from his first involvement with the England squad, reclaimed the 10 shirt. Max Ojomoh shifted back to inside centre, partnering Jonathan Joseph to recreate the axis that impressed against Harlequins.

Upfront, Russian international Valeriy Morozov earned his first Premiership start for the Blue, Black and White. Ewan Richards started in the second row alongside captain Josh McNally.

In the back-row, Taulupe Faletau started his first game of the season after his British & Irish Lions involvement last summer.

There were three notable additions to the bench with Max Clark, Tom de Glanville and Richard de Carpentier all returning from injury.

For Wasps, on a run of impressive form, there were familiar faces in their line-up with former players Elliott Stooke and Gabriel Oghre both starting.

Bath Rugby: 15 Tom Prydie, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Muir, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Valeriy Morozov, 2 Jacques du Toit, 3 D'Arcy Rae, 4 Josh McNally (c), 5 Ewan Richards, 6 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Jaco Coetzee, 8 Nathan Hughes

Replacements: 16 Tom Doughty, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 Kieran Verden, 19 Josh Dingley, 20 Richard de Carpentier, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Max Clark, 23 Tom de Glanville

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Paolo Odogwu, 13 Sam Spink, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Dan Robson; 1 Robin Hislop, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 3 Biyi Alo, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 5 Elliott Stooke, 6 James Gaskell, 7 Ben Morris, 8 Brad Shields

Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Tom West, 18 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 19 Vaea Fifita, 20 Alfie Barbeary, 21 Will Porter, 22 Ryan Mills, 23 Marcus Watson

FIRST HALF

Wasps raced into an early lead when a Bath defensive lineout was lost. A long pass from Atkinson was collected by Josh Bassett who offloaded in the tackle, giving Rob Miller the opening try.

Following a messy 15 minutes from both sides, Bath sprung into life. A powerful surge from Nathan Hughes sucked in the defence and the ball was quickly moved wide for Tom Prydie to score his first Bath try. Orlando Bailey converted from out wide.

Wasps responded immediately when Biyi Alo crashed over from a rolling maul.

Some dominant hits, especially from Nathan Hughes allowed Bath to get on the front foot again.

Bath started to move the ball quickly and created a number of opportunities down their left flank. Max Ojomoh took advantage with a scintillating break and found Taulupe Faletau on his inside. The British & Irish Lions star, making his first start of the season, strode in unopposed. Bailey once again converted.

It looked like Bath would go in ahead but Wasps scored late on with a fortunate try.

Nathan Hughes turned the ball over at the breakdown but the ball was kicked through his hands. Wasps scooped up the ball and it was moved out to Elliott Stooke to dive into the corner and give the home side a narrow 17-14 lead.

SECOND HALF

Orlando Bailey kicked off the second half and Bath were immediately awarded a penalty. However, the TMO intervened and Semesa Rokoduguni was sent off for a high tackle on Sam Spink.

Down to 14 men didn't appear to impact the visitors. On 47 minutes, Orlando Bailey showed some lovely footwork to get Bath onto the front foot. Nathan Hughes picked up at the ruck and then showed some lovely footballing skills with a delicate kick through. Ben Spencer won the race to dive in and give Bath the lead. Bailey kept up his 100% kicking record with a conversion from the touchline.

After a period of strong defence from both sides and a series of scrums, Bath were awarded a penalty 45 metres out. Bailey, full of confidence following his inclusion in the England training squad, slotted the three points to extend Bath's lead to 24-17.

The turning point happened on 67 minutes as Tom de Glanville attempted to intercept a Wasps attack. He didn't manage to collect the ball and was adjudged to have deliberately knocked on so was sent to the sin-bin for 10 minutes.

Wasps immediately capitalised on their numerical advantage with a quickfire brace from Paolo Odogwu.

A few minutes later he nearly claimed a six-minute hattrick but was pulled down just short of the try line. Alfie Barbeary was on hand to dive over for Wasps sixth try.

With the clock in the red Barbeary added his second and Wasps seventh to end the game.

REACTION

GALLERY

Match Report: Wasps 41-24 Bath Rugby

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