Wasps 54-7 Leicester: New boy Alfie Barbeary in dreamland after hat-trick on first start

Alfie Barbeary admitted to living the dream after scoring a hat-trick on his first Premiership start to crush once-mighty Leicester.

Playing out of position in the back row, the 19-year old hooker helped himself to three tries in the space of 17 second half minutes.

He set up another and took the man of the match award as Leicester, 10-time English champions, were handed their heaviest ever Premiership defeat.

“I can’t really believe it,” said Barbeary, only recently out of school, who becomes only the second player, after Gloucester's Lesley Vainikolo, to achieve the first start feat.

“I grew up watching Wasps so to make my Premiership debut in the Ricoh and for it to go so well is a dream come true.”

Barbeary scores (above) and is mobbed by Wasps team mates (below) (Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

Wasps even gave Tigers a seven-point head start before clicking into gear midway through the first half and plundering eight unanswered tries in under an hour.

Fifty-four points without reply was too much to take for Leicester boss Geordan Murphy who said he felt like he had been “punched in the face quite a few times”.

Murphy added: “I've been here a very long time and that's the biggest defeat I've been involved in. It’s a bitter pill and it’s not good enough.

Tom West scores second of Wasps' eight tries at the Ricoh Arena (PA)

“I would speculate that every fan who is hugely disappointed tonight and feeling sick is probably nowhere near as sick as myself and the coaching group are. It's my responsibility. I feel pretty poor.”

In contrast Barbeary felt on top of the world after dummying his way over for two tries and powering through Tigers' defence from close range for a third.

“Mum and dad were watching at home in Banbury and I imagine they were going a bit mental,” he said.

Malakai Fekitoa runs a brilliant line to cut through Leicester's try-line defence (Action Images)

Leicester try scorer Cameron Henderson on the attack (Getty Images)

They will not be alone in being excited by this performance and with Jack Willis coming off the bench to continue his turnover tour de force, Wasps are a club in rude health.

Leicester had absolutely no answer to their clever angles of running and offloads with Jacob Umaga, Ryan Mills and Malakai Fekitoa particularly eye-catching.

While they remain in fourth place few will take any comfort from that. On each of the three times they won the title in the noughties they did not top the table.

WASPS - Tries: Fekitoa, West, Barbeary 3, Umaga, Spink, Kilbrige. Cons: Umaga 7.

LEICESTER - Try: Henderson. Con: Henry.