An irate Dan Biggar read his team-mates the riot act as Northampton Saints crashed to a 34-21 home defeat to a Thomas Young-inspired Wasps in the Gallagher Premiership.
The absence of spectators at Franklin’s Gardens meant the Wales outside-half could be heard venting his anger as Northampton’s defence cracked with alarming ease.
"It’s too easy, we can’t allow it," blasted Biggar as Wasps raced over for their opening try of a bonus-point victory.
Jacob Umaga linked expertly with outside-half Jimmy Gopperth following a scrum as Josh Bassett roamed off his wing and through the middle of Saints’ splintering midfield.
Four minutes later, Biggar was incensed once more when Dan Robson broke from his own half to initiate an attack that ended with flanker Jack Willis powering over.
Two Biggar penalties gave Saints reward for spending most of the opening 30 minutes in the opposition half but the frailty of their defending undermined their control of territory and possession.
A pair of crunching hits by Wasps’ Malakai Fekitoa on Fraser Dingwall made their mark but the second was deemed high and resulted in a yellow card for the All Black centre.
Northampton were unable to capitalise on the extra man and instead were opened up when an offload by No.8 Brad Shields sent Umaga over, only for referee Karl Dickson to spot a forward pass.
Saints drew first blood early in the second half with wing Taqele Naiyaravoro taking the ball up the middle from a scrum, sucking in players to allow Alex Mitchell to grab and dot down from close range to cut the gap to 14-13 and blow the game open.
But the energy was quickly sucked out of the Northampton comeback, however, when a series of forward drives ended with prop Ben Harris burrowing over before a Lima Sopoaga penalty propelled Wasps into a seemingly commanding 24-14 lead.
The roller coaster continued when lock David Ribbans finished a driving maul launched from a line-out and Biggar landed another penalty to reduce the deficit to three points.
Sopoaga added a penalty for Wasps before a devastating move started by official man of the match Young, who is ineligible for Wales after signing a new contract with the Coventry club, ended with a second try for Bassett which sealed a maximum five-point haul for the visitors.
It was Wasps’ fourth successive Premiership victory under new head coach Lee Blackett, who succeeded former Wales captain and ex-Cardiff Blues boss Dai Young in the hot seat, and propelled them into fourth place in the table.
