Ellis Genge had a 100th game to forget as he was sin-binned in the first half.
They had a 16.
Gopperth had 3 Penalty Pens.
The team scored 13
Try: Ford 2 Con: Montoya.
The leaders of the league lost their perfect record in the second half of the game to the Wasps.
George Ford kicked two penalties and a try for the Tigers, who had won 11 games on the spin.
Jimmy Gopperth's boot gave them the lead after the break.
The hosts stood firm as the Tigers mounted a late surge.
Steve Borthwick's team came to the CBS Arena knowing a win would equal the club record of 16 in a season.
Their opening 40 minutes suggested they would have no issues in matching that feat, despite the sin-binnings of Tommy Reffell and skipper Ellis Genge - the former for the off-the-ball tackle which brought Wasps a penalty try and the latter for a strike to the face
There is a table of the league.
Bath won their first game against Worcester.
Ford kicked the visitors about well, although the England international's two misses from the tee would eventually prove costly.
The tactical switch provided by Lee Blackett allowed for a second-half improvement.
Gopperth's work at inside centre was complemented by the work of Sam and Charlie, as the team forced the Tigers back.
The boot of Gopperth was enough to get the deficit under control and, once the lead had been taken, they survived numerous scrum resets and a pounding of their line to squeeze out a huge victory.
Lee Blackett told the CWR that he was a head coach.
It wasn't perfect but after the game it was emotional. It was hard to speak. We're in the game to celebrate big wins like this.
"It was built on a lot of emotion and a lot of energy, it was tough, you had to fight, and our young half-backs did really well."
The built up emotion of the last five minutes, when you go to the scrum and you've got young Zac coming in, probably was the reason. I think he's worked so hard on his game that it was great to see. Young guys come of age that time.
Steve Borthwick is the director of rugby atLeicester.
The players tried hard, but we made too many mistakes. That cost us. The game was won by Wasps.
We lost the penalty count in the third quarter and they played really well, and from a position where we could have won the game, we went behind.
There's always a job for a coach and a group of people, no matter what the result is. We will look at what we could have done better.
We're disappointed we've lost, but it wasn't long ago that we were hoping to win. We have a lot to prove but it shows we have made some changes.
Crossdale; Hougaard, Spink, Gopperth, Bassett, Hislop, Cruse, Toomaga-Allen, Cardall, Stooke, Barbeary, Shields, and the captain, Willis.
Replacements: Nearchou, Alo, Gaskell, Young, W Porter, Mills, Miller.
Genge (capt), Montoya, Cole, Green, Snyman, Wells, Reffell, Chessum, are some of the players in the squad.
Replacements: Dolly, B Youngs, Burns, Moroni.
Reffell and Genge were sin-bins.
The referee is Tom Foley.
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