WASPS 9, SARACENS 0.

AMIDST the furore surrounding Danny Cipriani's imminent departure to Australia, a game of rugby broke out at Adams Park this afternoon and Wasps did their absolute utmost to rewrite the headlines by whitewashing long-time Guinness Premiership leaders Saracens and climbing into the top four at the same time.

It's the first time this season the Vicarage Road outfit have failed to score a point, and it says everything about the controlled aggression with which Wasps approached the match.

They ran roughshod over their hosts for the first half, refused to panic when their lead was just 6-0 and, on the back of a herculean display from the forwards, did not give away a penalty in their own half for the full 80 minutes.

And to cap it all, Wasps fans showed they aren't holding Cipriani's decision against him as they clapped him off the pitch when he was replaced by Dave Walder with 11 minutes left.

The victory, secured by three successful penalties from the headline grabbing fly-half, moves Wasps up to 39 points, level on points with London Irish and into the play-off positions on games won. difference only before next weekend's trip to Leeds.

Wasps made an early statement by forcing a penalty out of the Saracens pack with just a minute gone, and from in front of the posts Cipriani did the honours to put his team 3-0 in front. It launched a frenetic start to the game which saw both sides going at each other hammer and tongs.

Twice Wasps threatened tries and not surprisingly it was Tom Varndell who was their danger man, first chasing Ben Jacobs' grubber into the in-goal area and then feeding off Warren Fury, who wriggled out of a clutch of bodies to send his winger haring down the line.

Noah Cato withstood the hand-off, but Saracens infringed trying to break out of their own 22 and Cipriani was again on target to stretch the lead to 6-0 with 11 minutes played.

It was just reward for a highly-charged start from the hosts, who were taking full advantage of Sarries' decision to rest Schalk Brits by dominating at scrum time and in open play they had their tails well and truly up.

Fury was at the heart of it. After throwing opposite number Neil de Kock to the ground like a rag doll he was even more effective in attack after 19 minutes when he and Varndell combined superbly down the left, keeping the momentum going with a series of juggles and back-handed passes that came within an ace of creating a try under the posts.

Only a last-ditch tackle on the winger prevented the game's first score, but the frenzy within the men in black and gold did not abate.

Fury's lightning service kept Jacobs and Steve Kefu active in almost every attack and when the game did slow down Wasps showed they had more than the muscle to match their guests, most notably after 28 minutes when their pack drove Sarries back 15m before winning a penalty a yard inside their own half.

Cipriani's scuffed kick whistled under bar from 51m out, and when he had another chance from the same distance with 32 minutes gone he got the distance but not quite the accuracy as the ball bounced back into play off an upright.

Those two missed kicks kept Saracens in the game on the scoreboard at least, but on the pitch they were creaking terribly and within moments had conceded yet another penalty on the half way line.

This time Cipriani kicked to touch and Rob Webber's long throw picked out Fury, who off-loaded to the marauding Paul Sackey.

Sackey and Jacobs took play to within yards of the line before Webber arrived at full speed to try and bulldoze over.

A tangle of Sarries bodies just about held him up, but a five metre scrum resulted and the atmosphere inside Adams Park crackled with anticipation as Wasps, who had overpowered Saracens up front throughout the half, packed down.

Three times though, referee Chris White ordered a reset after Saracens infringements but despite yellow carding Richard Scuse, who had been given a going over by Zak Taulafo, he did not award a penalty try and as the players trooped down the tunnel for half-time, Wasps coach Shaun Edwards wanted to know why not.

It was a legitimate question; 6-0 was scant reward for arguably Wasps' best half of the season but they did at least have eight minutes at the start of the second period to build on their lead with a man advantage.

Cipriani got the ball rolling with his third successful penalty with 42 minutes gone, but that was it and with half an hour left Saracens were still alive in a game that should have been dead and buried.

And they knew it. Brits came on to bolster the pack, de Kock started to have more of a say and more than once midfield runners nearly pierced the Wasps line.

With 20 minutes left the shift in momentum was summed up when Varndell chased back towards his own line after a long Saracens clearing kick.

With all the time in the world, he dallied and although he side-stepped the first tackler he got barely a yard before running into a posse of red shirts and was immediately swamped.

It invited unnecessary pressure at a time when Wasps wanted to re-establish themselves in the match, and although they cleared the danger the edginess among supporters was revealed when Varndell, in the same position again with 13 minutes left, was loudly cheered for hastily kicking to touch.

But there was nothing to really worry them.

Wasps played out the final stages with no scares at all and with some big-name players nearing fitness and Taulafo taking the Man of the Match award to underline the substantial impact he's had since arriving, Wasps fans have reason to be optimistic that Cipriani and Sackey could sign off with silverware.