First-half tries by David Lemi and Mark Van Gisbergen combined with the boot of Dave Walder to earn Wasps a hard-fought 24-20 victory over London Irish in the LV= Cup.

Wasps, who took this match seriously by playing a close-to-full-strength team, were 18-10 up at the break thanks to the touchdowns by two of their back three.

Walder had kicked a conversion and two penalties by then and he added another three-pointer after the interval to steer the visitors home.

Peter Hewat went over for a brace of tries for Irish, one either side of half-time, but they could not recover despite late pressure.

The other good news for Wasps was the successful return of England lock Simon Shaw, who played the whole match in his first senior start since the Lions tour this summer.

The 36-year-old, who has missed the start of the season with a metatarsal injury, was hoping to prove his fitness ahead of England's remaining two autumn Tests - against Argentina and New Zealand - and although he looked rusty at times, he held up well to give national team boss Martin Johnson food for thought.

Shaw was yellow-carded late on, however, for a cynical knock-on to blot his copybook.