 | Wasps: (27) 48 Tries: Voyce 3, Lewsey, Skivington, Ibanez Pens: King 2 Cons: King 6 Scarlets: (7) 14 Tries: Watkins, B Davies Cons: Bowen, Hercus |
Wasps returned to form with a six-try demolition of the Scarlets in the Heineken Cup at the Causeway Stadium. Tom Voyce ran in a superb hat-trick as the English champions avenged last week's defeat in Llanelli.
Josh Lewsey capped a fine performance at centre with a try and George Skivington and Raphael Ibanez also crossed for Wasps.
The Scarlets could not live with Wasps' power and could only manage tries from Matthew Watkins and Barry Davies.
Wasps went 10-0 up after just seven minutes courtesy of Voyce, who raced over from distance after Simon Shaw and Ibanez combined round the front of a line-out.
King converted to add to an earlier penalty and he was on target once more after 26 minutes when Lewsey stepped inside Dafydd James in midfield on his way to a cracking score.
King added a second penalty for Wasps before Matthew Watkins latched onto a loose pass from Shaw to grab a converted try for the Scarlets before half-time.
However, Wasps hit back with their third converted try when Skivington finished off a series of powerful drives to make it 27-7 in first-half injury time.
After the break Lewsey eluded a handful of defenders to set up a second marvellous try for Voyce, converted by King, after 55 minutes.
The England wing latched onto a loose ball for yet another converted try with 10 minutes to go.
And although the last word went to the visitors as Barry Davies scored a late try, converted by Mike Hercus, they had long been a beaten side.
Wasps captain Lawrence Dallaglio:
I was very critical of the team last week. That is not really my style and
we got the response you expect from a champion side. We don't dwell on negatives. I look to the future rather than the past.
It means I can open my presents with a smile and we go into the Gloucester game on Boxing Day with confidence.
Scarletts boss Gareth Jenkins:
This is just what I thought would happen in this group. We're all capable of beating each other. Toulouse are big-time favourites now and I don't think we'll get a second team qualifying out of this group.
We got a walloping from a very good side. But we've got two games left so we've got to be ambitious.
Wasps: Mark Van Gisbergen; Paul Sackey, Josh Lewsey, Stuart Abbott, Tom Voyce; Alex King, Eoin Reddan; Alistair McKenzie, Raphael Ibanez, Tim Payne; Simon Shaw, George Skivington; John Hart, Johnny O'Connor, Lawrence Dallaglio (capt).
Replacements: Jonny Barrett, Jon Dawson, Richard Birkett, Tom Rees, Matt Dawson, Rob Hoadley, Ayoola Erinle.
Scarlets: Lee Byrne; Mark Jones, Dafydd James, Matthew Watkins, Garan Evans; Gareth Bowen, Dwayne Peel; Dorian Williams, Matthew Rees, John Davies, Hottie Louw, Adam Jones, Simon Easterby (capt), Gavin Thomas, Alix Popham.
Replacements: Martyn Madden, Aled Gravelle, Inoke Afeaki, Jon Mills, Clive Stuart-Smith, Mike Hercus, Barry Davies.
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland).