Premiership: Wasps 27-24 Newcastle - Gopperth's late penalty consigns Falcons to ninth straight loss

Jimmy Gopperth slipped as he took the 76th-minute penalty that gave Wasps the winning points

Wasps broke Newcastle Falcons' hearts as Jimmy Gopperth's late penalty secured a dramatic Premiership victory.

Newcastle hooker George McGuigan went over for a hat-trick of tries, twice helping the visitors into a 10-point lead, only for Wasps to twice level.

But, with just three minutes to go, Wasps then led for the first time when, despite slipping, Gopperth kicked the three-pointer that beat his old club.

The defeat was Newcastle's ninth consecutive loss in the competition.

Both sides showed endeavour with intricate moves early on but were unable to get points on the board, before Will Haydon-Wood's penalty edged Newcastle ahead.

The visitors pushed to extend their lead and were rewarded when prop Adam Brocklebank raced through the centre and McGuigan hurled himself over the line to make it 10-0.

Three tries from Newcastle's George McGuigan couldn't stop his side losing a ninth Premiership game in a row

Wasps came up with the perfect response when Jack Willis broke the Falcons' line to feed Dan Robson to score on his 150th appearance for the club, only for McGuigan to steal back the limelight when he came steaming in to go over.

But, just as it looked like Newcastle would go into the break the much happier of the teams, Joe Launchbury reached a desperate arm out of a tackle to score on the stroke of half-time.

Falcons hoped for a penalty try when Wasps' Will Porter was shown a yellow card on the hour for fumbling the ball into touch as winger Adam Radwan looked to score and still thought they had done enough to capitalise on their man advantage when McGuigan rolled over for his third.

Yet to their dismay, Wasps prop Tom West dramatically pulled his side back to 24-24, with the help of a key interception from Launchbury in the build-up and Gopperth's third conversion.

In a grandstand finish, Haydon-Wood then missed a brilliant chance to get three points by fluffing his penalty, only for Gopperth to fall on his back but still get enough direction on the ball for his kick to go between the posts.

Wasps head coach Lee Blackett told BBC CWR:

"There were a lot of boys who came off and - almost by their faces - looked like they had lost. Sometimes you need a bit of reality check as players and coaches. We fell short of the high standards we rightly expect from each other but we still won

"Jimmy Gopperth always says when he falls on his backside, he never misses, so as soon as I saw him fall I knew straight away.

"I'm really pleased with Jimmy, he's come up with some big moments consistently. There's probably no one in the league you'd rather have kicking that kick at the end of a game."

Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards told BBC Radio Newcastle:

"Their side on paper was a hell of a side but we probably should have won. We created more opportunities but they took their chances when they had them.

"But for a couple of injuries in certain positions, we most probably would have won that. There were a few poor decisions at the wrong time, but that's life. You have got to learn from it.

"We acquitted ourselves very well. We've got a great crop of youngsters, we had 16 or 17 academy boys out there, which is a hell of an achievement from the academy's perspective. To put in a performance like that, we've got to be proud of them."

Wasps: Kibirige; Odogwu, Fekitoa, Gopperth, Bassett; Umaga, Robson; Hislop, Oghre, Alo, Launchbury (capt), Stooke, Shields, J Willis, Barbeary.

Replacements: Frost, West, Millar-Mills, Fifita, T Willis, Porter, Spink, Watson.

Sin Bin: Porter (60).

Newcastle: Penny (co-capt); Radwan, Wacokecoke, Burrell, Carreras; Haydon-Wood, Schreuder; Brocklebank, McGuigan, Davison, Peterson, Robinson, Welch, Lockwood, Chick (co-capt).

Replacements: Blamire, Cade, Tampin, Fuser, Collett, Nordli-Kelemeti, Connon, Orlando.

Referee: Andrew Jackson (RFU).

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