Wasps buzzing after victory

London Wasps all but put an end to Llanelli's European dreams with a 33-17 victory at Stradey Park.

Llanelli had vowed to bounce back after their opening defeat to Clermont, however they found the defending champions just too hot to handle.

Wasps may have endured a torrid start to the Guinness Premiership campaign but their international stars have returned from the World Cup in time for their Heineken Cup challenge.

But it was one of the Londoners' unsung heroes who set up the victory, with Fraser Waters scoring two tries and having a hand in the third, while Danny Cipriani added 13 points.

Waters has been a consistent performer over the seasons, but the Wasps centre is now enjoying some of the best form of his career - with Llanelli finding him simply unstoppable.

His first try came after 14 minutes, with Waters timing his run to perfection. Riki Flutey took on the Llanelli defence down the left and although he was held up, the New Zealander was able to slip a superb offload to Waters.

Scooped

Matt Watkins managed to halt Waters' charge but the Wasps centre was able to get back to his feet and score.

His second try came just five minutes later, with Morgan Stoddart guilty of a schoolboy error. Cipriani sent a hopeful kick deep into the Llanelli half but the Wales full-back could only knock on. Waters scooped up the loose ball and found Simon Shaw on his inside, with the England second row returning the pass to his unmarked team-mate.

Cipriani landed the conversion to give Wasps a 12-0 lead, however the home side responded in fine fashion through skipper Simon Easterby.

Dwayne Peel showed lightning reactions to take a quick-tap and release Mark Jones. The Welsh winger broke through the Wasps defence to find Easterby clear on the inside, with the Irish international making no mistake. Stephen Jones converted.

But within two minutes Wasps had their third try, with Waters again in the middle of it.

A superbly timed scissors move with Cipriani created the space for Waters, who in turn to set George Skivington up for the score. Cipriani converted.

Llanelli attempted to find a way back into the game - and were denied a try-scoring chance just before the break when Waters was guilty of hands in the ruck. However he escaped a yellow card, with only Jones' penalty as punishment.

Control

The Scarlets came storming out for the second half as they pushed and probed at the Wasps defence, but the visitors refused to budge.

The best chance for Llanelli came on 51 minutes, with another tap penalty from Peel - however this time the scrum-half only had Gavin Thomas in support and the big flanker spilt the ball in the tackle from Paul Sackey.

As the half wore on, Wasps were able to take control - and really they should have scored the fourth try on the hour after a quality break from Flutey that saw Mark van Gisbergen knock on.

The bonus point score eventually came four minutes later as Cipriani hammered through the first line of defence and although he was tackled the young fly-half was able to scramble back to his feet to reach over.

Cipriani should have had a second try when he won the race to Flutey's kick ahead, however he was too slow to regather and Regan King was able to touch down safely.

Flutey, though, made no mistake with 10 minutes left as he beat Scott MacLeod for pace and slid over. Once again Cipriani converted.

A breakaway try in the final minute from Mark Jones, converted by Stephen Jones, was little consolation for the home side.