Wasps sting out of sorts Sharks
Joe Simpson's double, helped Wasps continue their dream start to life at the Ricoh Arena, as the hosts secured a dominant 41-16 bonus-point triumph over Sale Sharks.
England hopeful Christian Wade was the visitors' tormentor-in-chief, with the wing repeatedly beating defenders with deft footwork to have a hand in tries for James Haskell, Nathan Hughes and Simpson's first before the interval.
Following a record-breaking performance last time out at Wasps' new stadium, Andy Goode remained in imperious kicking form to land 16 points in total as the hosts led 27-9 at the break.
Dai Young's side gained the bonus point soon after the restart through Simpson's second, before Ashley Johnson forced his way over as James Gaskell, Simon McIntyre and Rob Miller tasted victory against their former club.
Despite a late consolation try for Andrei Ostrikov, Steve Diamond's side were ultimately overwhelmed by a dynamic Wasps performance that ensured their third consecutive Premiership victory.
Wasps started brightly as a break down the right by Wade set up an attacking platform, with Sale penalised for not rolling away and Goode landing his penalty attempt in front of the posts.
Yet the visitors had the chance to level just moments later with Wasps whistled for the same infringement and flyhalf Joe Ford, with the in-form Danny Cipriani rested, slotted his effort to make it 3-3.
The hosts responded in scintillating fashion as deft hands from Ben Jacobs set Wade free, with the winger weaving past multiple Sale defenders to send captain Haskell over in the corner.
Goode added the tough touchline conversion, only for Ford to quickly cut the deficit once again as he landed a simple penalty attempt on 10 minutes.
A surging break by Miller then put his former club on the back foot, before the fullback and Jacobs combined to split the Sale defence, allowing No.8 Hughes to charge over.
Although Goode duly added the extras to give his side a 17-6 lead, the hosts again conceded a penalty moments later and Ford landed his third kick.
Yet Wasps nearly had their third try after stealing a lineout on Sale's 22, with Wade ghosting past two defenders to eventually find Tom Varndell but the wing was pulled up just short of the line.
An impressive scrum then saw Wasps push the Sale pack towards their own line and although the visitors held firm, Goode dropped back into the pocket to bisect the posts with a well-taken drop goal.
Another electrifying burst by Wade almost brought Wasps' third before the wing combined with Bradley Davies to lift up Mike Haley, with the ball popping out for Simpson to scoop up and run in unopposed, with Goode's conversion making it 27-9 at half time.
The hosts wrapped up the bonus point after just five minutes of the second period as Hughes punched a hole in the Sale line, with Simpson on his shoulder to dance through and touch down as Goode added the extras.
And the veteran flyhalf was soon kicking his fifth conversion to make it 41-9 as Wasps set up a powerful catch and drive from a five-metre lineout and Johnson forced his way over.
Both sides took the opportunity to ring the changes as the game approached the hour mark, with Cipriani replacing Ford and Mark Cueto also introduced to try and spark Sale's back line.
A previously breathless game then entered a subdued period, until the final five minutes when Gaskell was shown a yellow card and Ostrikov barrelled over from the resulting maul, with Cipriani converting.
Wasps surged forwards in search of a sixth try but fumbled the ball as they pushed towards the Sale line to keep the score at 41-16 in another emphatic home victory for Wasps.
*Elsewhere, Leicester Tigers made amends for their record Premiership defeat to Bath earlier this season with a gritty 17-8 win at Welford Road.
Tom Youngs' firsthalf try set the Tigers on their way and the boot of Owen Williams bagged four successful penalties, which proved enough, as they saw off a relentless Bath attack in the secondhalf which ended with Ross Batty crashing over in the last minute of the match.
Leicester ran out looking to avenge their 45-0 round three loss at the Recreation Ground in September, and despite having only lost once in their last six league encounters, they faced a tough 80 minutes against in-form Bath who themselves started the day with a seven-game unbeaten run under their belts.
*Harlequins survived a scare at the Kassam Stadium to overcome London Welsh 24-13, and condemn the Exiles to their 12th consecutive Premiership loss of the season.
The home side exploded out of the blocks, Paul Rowley going over to give them a deserved lead, but Quins recovered well to edge the contest 12-10 at the break, thanks to scores from Karl Dickson and Marland Yarde.
Kyle Sinkler and Tom Williams then added tries after the break, to hand Quins a bonus point victory and only their second win away from home this season.
All Sunday's scores and scorers!
Leicester Tigers 17-8 Bath
For Leicester:
Try: Youngs
Pens: Williams 4
For Bath:
Try: Batty
Pen: Ford
Teams:
Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Vereniki Goneva, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Ben Youngs (captain), 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Seremaia Bai.
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Sam Burgess, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Leroy Houston, 21 Micky Young, 22 Ollie Devoto, 23 Jonathan Joseph.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Ross Campbell and Paul Dix
TMO: Graham Hughes
Wasps 41-16 Sale Sharks
For Wasps:
Tries: Johnson, Haskell, Hughes, Simpson 2
Cons: Goode 5
Pen: Goode
DG: Goode
For Sale:
Try: Ostrikov
Con: Cipriani
Pens: Ford 3
Yellow Card: James Gaskell (Wasps, 74)
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Ben Jacobs, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 James Haskell (captain), 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Bradley Davies , 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Simon McIntyr.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Alapati Leiua.
Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Will Addison, 13 Jonny Leota, 12 Sammy Tuitupou, 11 Tom Arscott , 10 Joe Ford, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Mark Easter, 7 David Seymour (captain), 6 Magnus Lund, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Alberto de Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Eifion Lewis Roberts, 18 Ross Harrison, 19 Jonathan Mills, 20 Josh Beaumont, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Mark Cueto.
Referee: Greg Garner
Assistant referees: Andrew Jackson and Roy Maybank
TMO: Geoff Warren
London Welsh 13-24 Harlequins
For London Welsh:
Try: Rowley
Con: Robinson
Pens: Robinson 2
For Harlequins:
Tries: Dickson, Yarde, Sinckler, Williams
Cons: Swiel 2
Teams:
London Welsh: 15 Will Robinson, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Seb Jewell, 11 Nick Scott, 10 Piri Weepu, 9 Paul Rowley, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Carl Kirwan (captain), 6 Peter Browne, 5 James Down, 4 Ben West, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Nathan Vella, 1 Nathan Trevett.
Replacements: 16 Koree Britton, 17 Ricky Reeves, 18 Ben Cooper, 19 Lachlan McCaffrey, 20 Ben Pienaar, 21 Rob Lewis, 22 Olly Barkley, 23 James Tincknell.
Harlequins: 15 Ollie Lindsay-Hague, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 George Lowe, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Nick Easter (captain), 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Joe Trayfoot, 5 Sam Twomey, 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Will Collier, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Mark Lambert.
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 George Merrick, 20 James Chisholm, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Tom Williams.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Nigel Carrick and Jonathan Healy
TMO: Rowan Kitt