Wasps have crushed Gloucester 44-9 in their latest Premeirship clash at Loftus Road.

Gloucester boss Nigel Melville returned to his old hunting ground of Loftus Road tonight but left defeated as the west country outfit were outclassed by his old side.

The new director of rugby at Gloucesters, who ended his six-year reign with Wasps six weeks ago watched on from the sidelines to see the rejuvenated team from the capital march their way to their eighth win of the season and make significant inroads on the Zurich Premiership ladder.

The defeat also means Gloucester have now virtually handed league leaders Leicester the Premiership title for a fourth successive year.

The home side began the game in scintillating form, clearly still riding high after their win over Leicester 11 days ago.

Fly-half Alex King put Wasps ahead with two early penalties before Josh Lewsey touched down for the first try of the evening.

It was a score Wasps deserved. Having made vital space up field, Wasps won their line-out to cleverly switch the run of play to the right wing and set Lewsey free with King converting.

Gloucester's influential fly-half Ludovic Mercier clawed the visitors back into contention with three early penalties to make the score 13-9, but after a mass brawl which resulted in red cards for Gloucester's Robert Todd and Wasps Paul Volley, the home side took control.

King was again involved in the second try, superbly jinking his way around two Gloucester players before off-loading to centre Stuart Abbott who ran in to score. Again King converted to give Wasps a comfortable 20-9 cushion at the break.

Hooker Trevor Leota added Wasps' third try with King adding a conversion and a drop goal minutes later.

Gloucester's evening then went from bad to worse with the sin-binning of forward Rob Fidler with their opponents reduced to 13 men, Wasps duly capitalised with a try by Martyn Wood minutes later with King converting to give Wasps a massive 37-9 lead.

Wasps then added insult to injury with a last-gasp Mark Lock converted try which earned Warren Gatland's side a valuable bonus-point victory.

Squad:

Wasps: Lewsey, Roiser, Waters, Abbott, Sampson, A. King, Wood, Dowd, Leota, S. Green, Shaw, Jones, Worsley, Volley, Dallaglio.

Replacements: Denney for Abbott (70), Friday for A. King (74), Logan for Dowd (58), W. Green for Leota (64), Mackenzie for S. Green (73), Beardshaw for Jones (71), Lock for Dallaglio (64).

Sent Off: Volley (29).

Wasps: Tries: Lewsey, Abbott, Leota, Wood, Lock.

Cons: A. King 4, Logan.

Pens: A. King 2.

Drop Goals: A. King.

Gloucester: O'Leary, Albanese, Fanolua, Todd, Beim, Mercier, Gomarsall, Collazo, Fortey, Deacon, Fidler, Cornwell, Forrester, Boer, Paramore.

Replacements: Ewens for Albanese (68), Yachvili for Gomarsall (64), Azam for Fortey (64), Pucciarello for Deacon (53), Pearce for Fidler (70), Paul for Forrester (37).

Not Used: Sewabu.

Sin Bin: Fidler (59).

Sent Off: Todd (29).

Pens: Mercier 3.

Att: 5,769

Ref: Ashley Rowden (RFU).