Saracens' hopes of a top six finish were dealt a hammer blow at Vicarage Road this afternoon as Wasps stormed to a 29-40 victory in a pulsating clash.

Sarries were decked out in pink shirts as part of the Tackled Pink campaign to raise cash and awareness for Breast Cancer Care, but they were anything but pretty, especially in the first half, as Wasps ran in six tries to Sarries' five, with three of those coming the way of wing Francisco Leonelli, his second hat-trick in four games.

Four of the game's tries - three to Wasps - arrived inside a frenetic first 12 minutes. Wasps hooker Raphael Ibanez cancelled out Leonelli's third minute opener for Sarries from the restart before Tom Voyce and Dominic Waldouck crossed to leave the hosts playing catch up so early in the game.

The irrepressible Danny Cipriani - at the heart of two of those tries - then put in Paul Sackey for Wasps' fourth try after 21 minutes before Leonelli's second score kept Sarries in touch.

However, England golden boy Cipriani was at it again on the stroke of half time when he waltzed through Sarries' shoddy defence to put in Waldouck for his second try as Wasps held a commanding 12-35 half time lead.

Wasps scrum half Eoin Reddan stregthened Wasps' stranglehold on the game with an early second half try before tries from Leonelli and Richard Haughton earned Sarries the losing bonus point.

With nine minutes left Sarries skipper Neil de Kock broke free to cross under the posts to reduce the gap to 11 points but Wasps held on.

The game, the 1,500 Premiership match, got off to an explosive start with both sides crossing the line within a minute of each other.

First, a great break by Adam Powell and quick hands by Richard Haughton put in Leonelli for his fifth try in four games. Jackson made amends for a skewed first minute penalty with a confident conversion.

However, Wasps restored parity immediately from the restart. Poor communication between Nick Lloyd and Hugh Vyvyan saw the latter fail to grasp Cipriani's high ball from a standing position and former Sarrie hooker Ibanez was on hand to scoop up the loose ball and barge over from close range. Cipriani added the extras.

Wasps then took the lead courtesy of an almighty error from Adam Powell as Sarries tried to run the ball out of the danger zone. The young centre's pass in front of his own posts went behind Jackson and evaded Kevin Sorrell before the bounce got the better of Leonelli's poor judgement to allow Voyce the easiest try he will ever score.

Sarries boss Alan Gaffney had recently voiced his concerns over his side's penchant for conceding 'soft' tries - this one was up there with the worst.

Wasps were now in the ascendency and it was no surprise they extended their lead further soon after when a delightful dummy by Cipriani put Waldouck in acres of space to cross in the left corner.

Sackey then ensured the visitors' try bonus point when he collected Cipriani's sublime cross-field kick on the right.

There were even more hairy moments for despairing Sarries fans as first the usually reliable Neil de Kock almost got turned over as he failed to spot the ball as it squirmed out of a ruck before Jackson had two kicks in succession charged down metres away from the hosts' try line.

To their credit, Sarries regrouped, rolled up their sleeves and more quick hands from Haughton saw Leonelli stride over after 33 minutes.

However, any thoughts of a Men in Black revival were shattered on the stroke of half time when Cipriani, who missed a 36th minute penalty, carved through woeful challenges by Haughton and Leonelli to set up Waldouck for his second score of the game.

Wasps started the second half in the same vein as the first as Reddan sold Paul Gustard a dummy to cross unchallenged to reinforce his side's grip on the match.

Sarries needed something, anything in fact, to try and turn it around and after Don Barrell had gone close as the hosts enjoyed a rare spell of sustained pressure the ball was recycled quickly for Leonelli to plunder his third try.

Replacement hooker Matt Cairns then embarked on a powerful run through the middle before Wasps replacement James Haskell was sin binned for deliberately killing the ball.

The Men in Black made their numerical advantage count when Haughton crashed over on the right after some patient approach play. Jackson, having an off-day with the boot, fluffed his lines once again.

Sarries' miserable afternoon continued when influential outside centre Kevin Sorrell picked up an injury to give boss Alan Gaffney a selection headache ahead of next weekend's Heineken Cup semi final against Munster.

Sarries captain de Kock's 71st minute try gave his side a glimmer of hope of completing a remarkable comeback but the damage had already been done in that devastating first half barrage from the visitors.

Saracens: Haughton, Leonelli, Sorrell, Powell, Ratuvou, Jackson, de Kock (cpt); Lloyd, Ongaro, Johnston, Vyvyan, Ryder, Gustard, Barrell, Skirving.

Replacements: Visagie for Johnston, 24; Cairns for Ongaro, 47; Fullarton for Vyvyan, 54; Penney for Sorrell, 64; Seymour for Barrell, 71; Rauluni for de Kock, Ross for Jackson, 75.

Attendance: 13,231. Referee: Dave Pearson.

Scoring sequence: 5-0/7-0/7-5/7-7/7-12/7-14/7-19/7-21/7-26/7-28/12-28/12-33/12-35 HT/12-40/17-40/22-40/27-40/29-40.