Fly-half Dave Walder kicked all of Wasps’ points and kept the Guinness Premiership side within touching distance after tries from Welsh internationals Leigh Halfpenny and Gethin Jenkins.

But while Walder missed a 77th minute penalty which would have taken the game to extra time, Wasps rarely looked like outmuscling a domineering Blues pack and Hanks admits a victory would have flattered his side.

“Lets give credit to them, overall they probably deserved to win,” said Hanks. “They took their chances and they scored two tries to nil.

“They showed their experience I thought. We just gave them too many chances and lacked the field position to launch any sort of attack of our own.

“You can’t fault the fight. We wanted to respond and we wanted to come back but we have got to make sure we learn from it.”