A barnstorming try by Wasps' favourite Trevor Leota five minutes into injury-time gave his side a vital bonus point as they held on to second place in the Zurich Premiership behind leaders Leicester.

But for Leeds it was a ninth defeat in their last 10 league games and - despite a second half fightback - they are now eight points adrift at the foot of the table, with only four games to play.

Some of Wasps' play was sublime in the opening quarter and they richly deserved the two-try lead they built by the 20th minute, with no player more prominent than fresh-faced openside flanker Tom Rees.

The 21-year-old made the break from Alex King's pass which allowed Lawrence Dallaglio to send Tom Voyce racing over at the corner for the opening try after seven minutes.

That score encouraged Wasps to look for more of the same and after Leeds prodigy David Doherty kicked Leeds' first points with a penalty, Rees exploded through the visiting defence once more to give his side a superb attacking platform deep in Leeds' 22.

And when the ball came back from the ruck Rees set-up, the flanker was on hand once more, this time sending out a superb pass that allowed centre Ayoola Erinle to drift wide of his marker to score.

The only negative aspect of Wasps' performance up to that point was in their goal-kicking with full-back Mark Van Gisbergen missing both conversion attempts and an early penalty attempt and it was left to King to give his side a 10-point cushion with a 29th-minute penalty.

But it was inevitably Rees who had the final word of an impressive opening period, this time acting as the beneficiary as Erinle, Voyce and Van Gisbergen combined before sending the flanker on his way to a well-deserved try.

Fly-half King added the conversion to give his side a 20-3 lead at the break, a scoreline which clearly did not impress Leeds' director of rugby Phil Davies, who made three half-time changes.

Off came centre Chris Bell, scrum-half Mark McMillan and second-row forward Tom Palmer and on came Tom Biggs, Alan Dickens and Chris Murphy.

If that move was also intended to be a message to the rest of the Leeds team, it paid dividends as they enjoyed their best period of the game and 17 minutes after the break found themselves with a host of players lining up to take Leeds' first try-scoring pass.

In the event, the final pass, from replacement number eight Alix Popham, who had replaced ankle injury victim Colm Rigney in the 38th minute, fell into the hands of prop Matt Holt and Doherty's conversion meant Leeds were back in the game.

The visitors' efforts did not end there, however, and after Popham quickly tapped a penalty while his side were on the attack, veteran prop Mike Shelley was driven over for his first Premiership try in 68 appearances.

Doherty could not convert from out wide and in the 77th minute, and - after Gisbergen kicked a penalty - Wasps claimed the bonus point when replacement hooker Leota crashed over under the posts for Van Gisbergen to convert.