Wasps thrash Leicester thanks to Alfie Barbeary's treble on first start

Marking a first Premiership start with a hat-trick, not to mention playing out of position, is an astonishing introduction by anyone’s standards but those who have followed Alfie Barbeary’s progress to date may not be entirely surprised. A hooker by trade, the 19-year-old stole the show at blindside flanker to announce himself on the big stage and help to keep Wasps on course for the play-offs with an eight-try shellacking of sorry Leicester.

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Barbeary’s name has repeatedly cropped up in age-grade circles in recent years and after a try-scoring debut off the bench against Worcester a couple of weeks ago he was let loose from the off here.

Wasps’ head coach, Lee Blackett, did his best to keep a lid on the hype – “he’s a talent, he’s a big project, he’s nowhere near the finished article” – but three second‑half tries and a dominant all-round showing demonstrated why Barbeary is so highly rated.

He used to play in the centres and sees his future in the front row but he swapped positions seamlessly here. Eddie Jones often talks about how hybrid players will dominate the game in the years to come and perhaps Barbeary’s emergence suggests England’s head coach has a point. His first try came after a lovely show and go, his second all power to score under the posts and his third a mixture of the two – storming towards the line before a clever dummy made sure he was clear.

“I can’t really believe it,” said Barbeary, who became only the second player to score a hat-trick on their first Premiership start, after Lesley Vainikolo. “I grew up watching Wasps so to make my [full] Premiership debut in the Ricoh and for it to go so well is a dream come true.”

Bath 40-15 Worcester

Bath rested many of their big names yet still ran in six tries against Worcester to keep up the pressure on the top four. They now sit just a point behind Wasps before Sunday's visit to second-placed Sale.

Billy Searle latched on to a wayward pass from Jack Walker to put Warriors ahead, but Tom Ellis finished a flowing move for the hosts before Elliott Stooke (pictured) heaved over the line from a five-metre scrum. Samoa wing Ed Fidow got the visitors back in it, but an injury to skipper Will Butler proved decisive.

Walker atoned for his early error before Tom de Glanville added another try as Bath pulled away before half-time. In the second half, Stooke grabbed his second on the blindside of a ruck before Josh Matavesi crashed through two defenders to complete the scoring.

Sale 24-17 Saracens

Sale recorded their fourth straight victory, holding on after running in three first-half tries. Hooker Curtis Langon set up lock Matt Postlethwaite was driven over for the opener, but an error from the restart allowed Rotimi Segun to level the scores.

The hosts had the better of the scrum, winning three successive penalties before Valery Morozov was driven over for Sale's second.Full-back Simon Hammersley added a third on 26 minutes to make the half-time score 21-7. Segun got another after the break but not before Will du Preez kicked a penalty to give Steve Diamond's side breathing room.

London Irish 15-38 Harlequins

Marcus Smith scored 16 points as Harlequins beat their temporary tenants to all but seal at Champions Cup spot. Their bonus-point victory saw them rise to sixth in the table with a top-eight finish almost certain.

In addition to Smith's two scores, Scott Baldwin, Cadan Murley and Scott Steele scored one apiece. There was also a penalty-try award, with Smith adding three conversions. Dan Norton and Ben Donnell went over for Irish, but it was not enough to avoid their sixth loss since the restart.

On top of Barbeary’s treble there were first-half scores from Malakai Fekitoa and Tom West and, once Leicester’s resistance had been broken, second‑half tries from Jacob Umaga, Sam Smith and Zach Kibirige. Wasps were perhaps not as polished as the scoreline suggests – not in the first half anyway – but they were up against a Leicester side with fewer than 100 Premiership starts between them and eventually the dam burst.

Leicester, who did actually score the first try through the second‑row Cameron Henderson and were competitive for the first 40 minutes, are evidently blooding youngsters with an eye on the future but this was the most points they have conceded in the Premiership and significant improvement will be expected next season.

“That’s a step backwards for us and that’s not good enough,” said the director of rugby, Geordan Murphy. “I’ve been here a very long time and that’s the biggest defeat I’ve been involved in. It’s not pretty and I feel like I’ve been punched in the face quite a few times.”