Wasps produced a dominant second-half display to see off London Irish 48-16 at their new Ricoh Arena home this afternoon.
The hosts made a positive start to the contest and found themselves six points to the good inside the opening 12 minutes thanks to the kicking of star man Andy Goode.
© Getty Images
It was the Exiles who crossed over for the first try, though, with Geoff Cross capitalising from the charge down of a clearance attempt to drag his side back into the game.
Tom Homer made no mistake with the conversion, although the lead did not last long as Goode was on target once more shortly after with his third penalty of the afternoon.
The fly-half was not finished there, splitting the sticks on six occasions before the end of the first half in all, while Homer kept the scoreline tight at the break with three of his own.
Wasps truly took command following the restart, however, finding their first try on the 45-minute mark when Simpson scored in the corner, and Goode continued his impressive kicking to cement his side's advantage with two more successful penalties.
Goode then managed to bag a try of his own on his return to home town Coventry, touching down with 13 minutes remaining, while Elliot Daly joined the party soon after following a strong charge down the right.
There was still time for Andrea Masi to cross over to secure a bonus point-victory for Wasps, on what was a memorable day for the club.
Irish remain in 11th place in the Aviva Premiership table following the defeat, while Wasps are in sixth.
Daniel Lewis
