Lawrence Dallaglio celebrated his reinstatement as England skipper by helping steer Wasps into the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup with a magnificent display against last year's beaten finalists Perpignan.

Dallaglio - who was handed the captaincy by Sir Clive Woodward on Wednesday following the retirement of Martin Johnson - led from the front as Wasps registered a famous victory in a hostile atmosphere at the Stade Aime Giral.

The English champions could have progressed with a draw but instead they booked their last eight place in style, overcoming a strong Perpignan outfit in a full-blooded encounter which was evenly poised until the last 20 minutes.

Jonny O'Connor, Tom Voyce, Ayoola Erinle and Dallaglio scored Wasps' tries while Kiwi full-back Mark van Gisbergen slotted 14 points, but it was a titanic defensive effort from Warren Gatland's side which laid the platform for victory.

Led by the back-row of Dallaglio, O'Connor and Joe Worsley, the visitors' line held firm throughout despite coming under immense pressure from Perpignan, who were denied by more than one try-saving tackle.

Wasps' heroics were made all the more tangible by the fact that after a couple of penalties from Manny Edmonds, Perpignan looked to run everything in a bid to land the try-scoring bonus point which they desperately needed.

But their efforts proved in vain and as it dawned on the Frenchmen midway through the second half that there was no way through, their challenge wilted allowing Voyce, Erinle and Dallaglio to cross and secure a bonus point.

The final scoreline scarcely did justice to Perpignan - who included England winger Dan Luger in their ranks - and failed to reflect that Wasps' line was under siege for long periods.

Indeed, it became apparent from the opening exchanges that the Wycombe-based club was up against it when Alex King was put off his second-minute penalty kick by a crescendo of boos from the the home supporters and scuffed the attempt.

He slipped during the run up and appeared to pick up an injury during the fall but was quickly back in action as Wasps continued their promising start but then strayed offside during Perpignan's first meaningful attack.

Manny Edmonds made no mistake with the penalty but Wasps levelled through van Gisbergen who had taken over the kicking duties, although this only ushered in a purple patch from the Frenchmen.

They poured forward with some mesmerising handling in the backs which was only hampered by the appearance of hooker Michel Konieckiewicz in the line as the move lost some of its momentum.

But they won a penalty shortly after which Edmonds stroked over - full-back Frederic Cermeno had made the initial inroads - as they began to find gaps in the Wasps defence with worrying ease.

The English champions regrouped quickly, however, and were rewarded with a try as they probed expertly down the right with backs and forwards combining neatly to send Simon Shaw into space.

He was brought down in the absence of any support but the ball was quickly recycled and spun left where Perpignan were overstretched and Irish flanker O'Connor ignored Voyce outside him to skip home, with van Gisbergen adding the conversion.

Edmonds had the chance to slash the deficit with a simple penalty but Perpignan skipper Bernard Goutta opted to go for touch, a decision which allowed his side to spend several minutes camped on the Wasps line.

They could not make the pressure tell, though, as Warren Gatland's team held firm, eventually clearing their lines with a penalty as Perpignan's attack collapsed in frustration.

But the French were not not done yet as they renewed their assault, assisted by the sin-binning of Shaw for fighting five minutes into first-half injury time, only to see their drive at a five-metre scrum swatted aside by Wasps.

Van Gisbergen stretched the lead with a tricky penalty close to the touchline but there were a few moments later when Perpignan would have scored in the corner had it not been for the sharp reactions of Wasps' cover.

And there was more of the same immediately after when Josh Lewsey made a try-saving tackle on Edmonds who must have been wondering where the lightning England full-back had appeared from.

Perpignan pressed once again but then found themselves another try down as Wasps managed to wrestle free, winning some turnover ball in enemy territory which Rob Howley scooped up and fed to Voyce with the former Bath winger dashing home.

Van Gisbergen converted and then provided the scoring pass to Erinle in the 76th minute for Wasps' third try, before Dallaglio barged his way over two minutes into injury time. Van Gisbergen improved both to complete the scoring.