London Wasp 25 Bath 10: Dallaglio guessing game as Wasps fly past Bath shakes off flu to help Wasps fly past Bath

No call on great No 8's Test future after Sackey passes 60 Premiership tries

A match which began with Lawrence Dallaglio, Wasps' club captain, accompanied on to the field by his son Enzo as a mascot, ended without the eminent England No 8 making any announcement on his international future, though it had been rumoured beforehand he might. Dallaglio was said to be coughing and spluttering in the dressing room, but it was not emotion at an impending decision. It was down to a flu bug which affected eight Wasps; Dallaglio had spent the last four days in bed and did not train all week.

"Lawrence is the best No 8 in England, on form," said Wasps' director of rugby, Ian McGeechan. Whether Brian Ashton takes the same view when it comes to selecting an England squad next month remains to be seen, but Dallaglio did his bit here as Wasps' switchback season, so disrupted by international calls at the outset, remained on a sharp upward curve. Since the World Cup final Wasps have lost once in 10 matches.

Two tries by Paul Sackey, which moved him clear of Neil Back as the second-highest Premiership try-scorer behind Sale's Steve Hanley, helped see off Bath in some comfort.

Wasps built a handy lead with a penalty by Danny Cipriani after 70 seconds a mighty kick from inside his own half and a try by Rob Webber, who was a late call-up at openside flanker having played at hooker the previous week, after Tom Rees cried off with flu.

Webber wore the No 7 jersey twice for Wasps while Rees and others were away during the World Cup and he pursued his secondary position brilliantly yesterday. Bath had won a scrum against the head in the fourth minute but Webber shot down the short side to begin a crossfield move which ended with him barging over and Cipriani converting.

There were a couple of significant substitutions soon after, Phil Vickery off for Wasps with a bloodied nose and a minor calf strain and Olly Barkley on in place of Tom Cheeseman in the Bath midfield. Barkley has a less salubrious appointment in this county of Buckinghamshire tomorrow, to appear at Aylesbury Magistrates Court on a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

A bust up the middle by Riki Flutey was the source of Wasps' second try, in the 30th minute. Cipriani probed to the right with a long pass and Barkley's challenge was easily evaded with half a hand-off by the hurtling Sackey. Again Cipriani's accurate left boot dispatched the conversion and Wasps could contemplate moving three places up the Premiership in oneeasy bound.

Bath had their England lock, Danny Grewcock, in his second match back for the club after a ban and a bang two months out with a biceps injury in the latter case. Grewcock's dodgy disciplinary record precedes him but he may have been harshly done by when he was sent to the sin-bin for trampling over George Skivington as a Wasps scrum splintered towards the end of a fractured, 52-minute first half.

"I've heard descriptions from 'a tad harsh' to 'ridiculous'," said Bath's head coach, Steve Meehan, though he otherwise had no complaint over the result.

How could he, it might be asked, when Bath retained only four members of the starting XV from the previous week's win over Leeds? Not that the visitors threw in the towel. Cipriani kicked his second penalty seven minutes into added time, but Grewcock was still watching when Bath, who had not wanted for ball in hand but like many before foundered on Wasps' spirited defence, scored their first points with a penalty by Barkley five minutes into the second half.

Wasps responded with venom. Dallaglio's lovely pass set Sackey away, to be thwarted by a flying tackle from Nick Abendanon. The Bath full-back, who earned the strangest of World Cup losers' medals when he was called out by England as injury cover in the final week of the tournament, was not so fortunate in the 53rd minute. Mark van Gisbergen, on as a replacement, put a grubber towards the right-hand corner, a wicked bounce took it away from Abendanon and Sackey scored his 61st try in a Premiership career with Bedford, London Irish and Wasps. He is 14 behind Hanley.

Bath pressed on but Wasps are dab hands at containing tactics against most opponents and they were breached only once. From a ruck, Joe Maddock raced to the posts; much earlier the New Zealander's rapid break from one 22 to the other was at the expense of a missed tackle by Cipriani, whose stock has slipped just a little in this match and the preceding draw at Bristol. With 77 minutes gone Barkley was tackled into touch by Sackey in the final flutter.

London Wasps: J Lewsey; P Sackey, F Waters, R Flutey, T Voyce (M van Gisbergen, 47); D Cipriani (D Waldouck, 80), E Reddan (M McMillan, 62); T French, J Ward (J Buckland, 62), P Vickery (M Holford, 22), S Shaw (T Palmer, 54), G Skivington, D Leo (R Birkett, 56), L Dallaglio, R Webber.

Bath: N Abendanon; J Maddock, T Cheeseman (O Barkley, 9), E Fuimaono-Sapolu, M Stephenson; S Berne, N Walshe (M Baxter, 80); D Barnes, P Dixon (R Hawkins, 66), L Ward (P Ion, 40), M Purdy (S Borthwick, 39), D Grewcock, P Short, J Faamatuainu, J Scaysbrook (I Fea'unati, 66).

Referee: R Debney (Leicestershire).