Fraser Waters starred at both ends of the field as champions Wasps served notice on the Scarlets at Stradey Park. Waters scored an early brace of tries and kept Llanelli at bay with a devastating display in defence as Wasps inflicted a heavy defeat on Phil Davies’s side.
Defeat has left Llanelli, last season’s semi-finalists, rock bottom of the toughest pool in the tournament and facing almost certain elimination at the first hurdle.
Midfield duo Waters and Riki Flutey stole the show with a power-packed display, a fitting tribute to the late and great Wales and British Lions centre Ray Gravell.
Emotions were running high at Stradey Park that had staged Ray Gravell’s funeral on Thursday but they got they got the better of Llanelli who appeared to freeze in the face of Wasps’ sheer intensity and in particular Waters.
The centre was man of the match in the last season’s Heineken Cup Final for his destructive power in defence but proved too much for the Scarlets to handle in attack.
Wasps withstood the expected firestorm from the home side before unleashing Waters who scored twice in the space five minutes and created a third before the break.
Flutey and Tom Voyce were industrious but Waters’s strength provided the cutting edge on 14 minutes and grabbed a second Simon Shaw punished Morgan Stoddart’s hesitancy.
Llanelli were desperate for inspiration and it came in the diminutive shape of Dwayne Peel, always alert to any possibility and his quick thinking and fast feet sent captain Simon Easterby over. But Waters was in top form, sending George Skivington over before the break and saving another with a tackle on Stoddart as Llanelli rallied at 19-10.
Cipriani sealed the bonus point just after an hour and should have added a second before Flutey and Mark Jones completed the scoring late on.
