LONDON Irish put in a heroic defensive effort but were ultimately outgunned 33-15 by Wasps at Twickenham this afternoon, writes Max Baker-Smith.

Despite showing good signs in their recent European outings, Irish started the first half very slowly in the second game of the London double header.

After just two minutes Wasps were camped five metres away from the Irish line, but some gutsy defending meant Wasps came away with only a Ruaridh Jackson penalty for their efforts.

Exiles showcased some fine attacking play with a couple of good line breaks exciting the crowd shortly after, and they levelled matters with a penalty which was easily kicked from in front of the posts by fly-half Chris Noakes. 

Irish however struggled with ball retention and they were fortunate not to fall behind again when Jackson missed what seemed a fairly straight forward penalty after Ofisa Treviranus was offside at the break down.

Wasps however did find themselves 6-3 up after Irish gave away a needless penalty for hands in the ruck, Jackson kicking an easy penalty.

Irish had spent the majority of the game on the back foot and had to make a staggering 51 tackles in the first 20 minutes.

A Wasps try seemed to be inevitable before the end of the half, and they looked certain to score in the corner only for Topsy Ojo to just knock the ball down to prevent Nathan Hughes catching cleanly with the line beckoning.

Irish then had a rare phase of territory in the Wasps half and managed to win a very kickable penalty from a scrum. However Noakes missed the chance to level the score, and this came back to haunt the hosts as what could only be described as a rush of blood led Eoin Sheriff to give away a needless penalty. 

Charles Piutau was alive for Wasps and tapped the ball quickly, and Irish never recovered from Sherriff's mistake as Frank Halai crossed in the corner.

Jackson could not convert and Irish looked to be heading into the break with an eight-point deficit. 

With the clock into the red, however, Irish managed to rally and an injection of pace from Alex Lewington meant he burst through the Wasps defensive line.

Johnny Williams, on Premiership debut after impressing in Europe, bundled his way over in the corner to get Irish back into the game. The wayward Noakes did miss the kick, but Irish trailed by only three points at the interval.

It was always going to be difficult for Irish to maintain their desperate defending through the whole second half, and this was apparent as less than 10 minutes in Wasps managed to breach their line as Elliot Daly broke through to extend Wasps' lead.

Jackson converted and Irish found themselves 18-8 down.

Wasps replacement fly-half Jimmy Gopperth then kicked a penalty as the gap between the sides was extended further. 

Irish showed tremendous character to keep fighting, and after spinning the ball wide Topsy Ojo stabbed through for Williams to score his second try of the day and his fourth in three games. Noakes managed to squeeze the kick between the posts as he went two from five for the day. 

The game went back and forth and was fairly uneventful for an extended period, until Wasps scored the crucial try with eight minutes remaining, Thomas Young crossing on the back of a driving maul. Once Gopperth had converted from under the posts the lead was stretched to 13.

Exiles, having been defending valiantly the entire game then seemed to tire, and sloppy hands gave possession over to their opponents.

From the resulting scrum Wasps spun the ball wide and excellent work from Daly led Halai to have a clean run to the line for a bonus point score. 

Irish put in a valiant effort but again fell short, and they remain without a point in the Premiership. 

Exiles will aim to secure a first win of the season at Harlequins next Saturday (3pm).