Tom Varndell bags a hat-trick as Wasps thump London Welsh
Last Updated: 12/04/15 5:43pm
Tom Varndell helped himself to a hat-trick as Wasps registered a 40-13 victory over relegated London Welsh at the Kassam Stadium.
The visitors ran in six tries to keep them in the hunt for an automatic Champions Cup spot, with Ashley Johnson, Sailosi Tagicakibau and Alaptai Leiua all touching down in the second half.
Varndell scored twice in the opening 11 minutes but the first half was far from plain sailing for Wasps, who led 12-5 at the interval after Exiles No 8 Opeti Fonua bundled over.
But Johnson dotted down and Varndell added his third before Tagicakibau secured the bonus point for Wasps, with Leiua getting in on the act with the last play of the game.
Wasps got off to a fast start in Oxford, Varndell breaking down the right flank to score in the corner on four minutes, with Andy Goode converting from a tight angle.
Welsh then went down to 14 men later when Koree Britton was sent to the sin bin for pulling down a maul and Wasps instantly capitalised as Varndell grabbed his second try.
The Exiles crept back into the game, though, keeping the pressure on Wasps' defence and Fonua forced his way through to make it 12-5.
Welsh started the second half well and Roberts made amends for his earlier miss as he calmly kicked a penalty between the posts to reduce the arrears even further.
But Wasps soon began to dominate and a lineout close to the try-line was bundled over by Johnson in his first start as hooker.
Then a swift break down the right saw Varndell free to run back around the Welsh defence and score under the posts for his hat-trick.
Chris Elder scored a try out of nowhere four minutes later for Welsh on his Aviva Premiership debut, finding space on the left wing to touch down in the corner.
Wasps instantly replied though as Tagicakibau finished a great run through the centre by reaching for the line.
And the game ended on a high for Wasps as Leiua finished the scoring with a darting run through the middle.