Zurich Premiership: Wasps off bottom spot

Delighted Wasps chief Nigel Melville saw his team haul themselves off the bottom of the Zurich Premiership table, and then insisted a place in the end-of-season play-offs is now a realistic target.

Wasps stepped up a gear at Headingley this afternoon to send Leeds crashing to a 28-18 defeat - a result which also dumped the Tykes into the drop zone.

The win has given Wasps a massive boost in their bid to avoid relegation and, with big names like Lawrence Dallaglio, Phil Greening and Paul Sampson due back from injury soon, Melville is optimistic for the rest of the season.

"This win has taken us in the right direction," he said. "But there are still a lot of games to be played.

"If we'd lost today there would have been an eight-point gap between us and Leeds.

"That position presents a problem because if you win, you're still at the bottom, and then, if you win again, you can still be at the bottom. That can affect you big time.

"This was a huge game for us - to come here at this time of year and win is fantastic.

"People have been pushing the relegation battle, but I haven't. I'm pushing to get into the Premiership play-offs and climb as far up the table as possible.

"If you look at the table, half the teams lose every week, making it easy to drop places very quickly.

"And now we're only going to get stronger because we're getting players back from injury. We're going into the new year in an optimistic mood."

Leeds, however, face an uphill battle if they are to maintain their top-flight status - but Tykes' director of rugby Phil Davies refuses to be daunted by the challenge which lies ahead.

"I'm proud of the players," he said. "We've had a great year getting promoted last season and doing what we've done so far this season.

"I'm happy and optimistic that we can move forward going into the new year. The league finishes on May 11, so that is when we'll look at the table.

"We're still in a good position. It could be a lot worse and it could be a lot better. We've got a good platform to build on.

"The boys gave a wholehearted performance today and I can't ask for more than that. Our finishing could have been more clinical at times, but everyone tried hard.

"We're a young side and we're learning all the time."