Wasps kept their slim hopes of reching the Heineken Cup last eight alive in front of 33,000 at Twickenham but Leinster’s losing bonus point kept the Dubliners in control of Pool Two.

Wasps skipper Phil Vickery chose to go for the posts with a 79th minute penalty that only gave Wasps a seven-point margin of victory to leave Leinster with a bonus point and the sides level at the top of the group.

Had Vickery gone for the try it would have left the Irish with nothing and Wasps needing a bonus point win next weekend against Castres to secure their progress no matter what Leinster achieved against Edinburgh.

As it stands, if the sides finish level at the end of the pool, Leinster will go through on the head to head, having taken all five points when the pair met in Dublin.

Leinster hurled the kitchen sink at the Guinness Premiership champions in a tense second half but could not breach the fabled Wasps defence in a game that saw the only try scored on 15 minutes.

Danny Cipriani fluffed two simple penalty chances but redeemed himself on 11 minutes to put Wasps ahead.

The home side scored four minutes later when Josh Lewsey ripped Leinster apart with a run from his own 22 before feeding Paul Sackey.

The England wing took on three Leinster defenders and offloaded to Richard Birkett who was just short of the line, but Serge Betsen was on hand to scoop up the ball and dive over.

Felipe Contepomi put Leinster on the board on 20 minutes with a penalty but the Irishmen were down to 14 when Irish full-back Rob Kearney saw yellow for a scufflewith Sackey.

Contepomi and Cipriani traded further penalties before it was Wasps turn to have a man in the bin after Betsen tripped Contepomi as he chased down Cipriani who had dropped his second consecutive high ball.

Kearney’s return saw the Dubliners back to full strength for a matter of minutes before Malcom O’Kelly was binned for a stamp on Phil Vickery’s head that he was lucky not to see a straight red for.

Wasps had been manhandling Leinster in the scrum but their advantage was reduced to rubble there on 38 minutes when the Irish lost loosehead prop Stan Wright, tighthead CJ van der Linde having departed earlier in the half.

With captain Leo Cullen also succumbing to injury his side’s woes deepened early in the second half when Brian O’Driscoll limped off for treatment, but the Ireland skipper was back on the field just in time to see Cipriani make it a seven-point gap on the hour.

Contepomi hit back two minutes later but missed with his next effort before Dave Walder, on for Cipriani, sealed a win that still may not be enough for Ian McGeechan’s men.

Wasps: M Van Gisbergen, P Sackey, D Waldouck, R Flutey, J Lewsey, D Cipriani, E Reddan, T Payne, R Webber, P Vickery (capt), G Skivington, R Birkett, J Worsley, S Betsen, J Haskell. Replacements: J Ward, T French, H Ellis, D Leo, J Simpson, J Walder, T Voyce

Leinster: Kearney, Horgan, O’Driscoll, Contepomi, Fitzgerald, Nacewa, Whitaker, Wright/Healy, Blaney, van der Linde, Cullen, Toner, Elsom, O’Brien, Heaslip.
Replacements: Fogarty, Healy/le Roux, Hogan, O’Brien, Keane, D’Arcy, Dempsey.