Dallaglio hails ‘the best Wasps team ever’

WASPS captain Lawrence Dallaglio last night hailed the Londoners’ Heineken Cup final victory over Leicester as the greatest Twickenham final of his glittering career.

Dallaglio has led the club to success in Europe, the EDF Energy Cup and Premiership but admitted this emphatic demolition of the red-hot favourites topped them all.

Leicester were hoping to complete an unprecedented treble only to see their dream shattered by a magnificent defensive display from Wasps, who outmuscled the Tigers from start to finish.

Dallaglio said: “Of all the finals that was number one without a doubt. Everyone was telling us that was the best Leicester team ever, so we must be the best Wasps team ever.

“Everyone is delighted to win the Heineken Cup. It was a very important match for us to win because it shows everything we’re about as a group.

“Leicester have had a fantastic season, there’s no doubt about it. They have strength in depth to challenge on three fronts but we targeted this competition and won.

“I understand why they were being talked up because they have done so well this season. But they won their two other trophies after not being put under much pressure.”

Dallaglio declared self-belief was the key to Wasps’ shock triumph in front of a world-record crowd for a club match with 81,076 crammed into a sun-soaked Twickenham.

He added: “Everyone built Leicester up to be a very good side, but the only way to win these games is to believe you can win.

“In the front row we had the captain of France and the captain of England. We have other experienced players and hungry youngsters, so the belief was always there.

“We took Leicester on in areas where people thought we would come off second best. We all look like a good side when we’re going forward, which is what happened to us a few years ago.

“For (Leicester fly-half) Andy Goode to get substituted in the second half showed we had succeeded.

“To make sure Leicester didn’t score a single point in the second half tells everything you need to know about our defence.”

Wasps caught Leicester unawares with two pre-planned line-out moves which resulted in first-half tries for Eoin Reddan and Raphael Ibanez.

Reddan crossed for the first in the 14th minute when the Tigers pack off-guard and amazingly Ibanez ran in a carbon-copy second 20 minutes later, leaving the Tigers distraught.

Wasps director of rugby Ian McGeechan said: “We talked about doing something different in the line-out and both things worked.

“It’s a credit to (line-out coach) Leon Holden that we came up with something offensively in that department. When you have three weeks to wait for a game it’s important you come back to a peak.

“Our conditioning staff should take a lot of credit. We wanted to raise the level and I think we did that.”

Leicester head coach Pat Howard claimed his side had prepared for Wasps to throw short line-outs but admitted they let the pressure of the occasion get to them.

He said: “We took our chances against Gloucester last weekend. Today we let in two soft tries around the front of a line-out and that put a gap between us. It was a physical battle out there and they won the majority of the exchanges. That’s life.”

Leicester skipper Martin Corry admitted his Tigers were out-fought in a surprisingly one-sided final.

“Those tries cost us the game. When you defend the line-out as fiercely as we do it leaves you vulnerable and Wasps found the holes.

“In the second half we gave everything – I saw that in the lads’ eyes. As a captain and coach that’s all you can ask for. Yes there were shortfalls but we played with a huge amount of pride and spirit. There was no fatigue factor.

“It’s been a long season. We were fired up and fresh for today, we were just beaten by the better side.”

Leicester scorers — Pens: Goode 3.

Wasps scorers — Tries: Reddan, Ibanez. Pens: King 4. Drop Goals: King.

WASPS: Cipriani, Sackey, Waters, Lewsey, Voyce, King, Reddan, French, Ibanez, Vickery, Shaw, Palmer, Worsley, Rees, Dallaglio.

Replacements: Waldouck for Waters (77), van Gisbergen for King (74), McMillan for Reddan (78), Ward for Ibanez (77), Bracken for Vickery (75), Leo for Shaw (55), Haskell for Dallaglio (51).

LEICESTER: G. Murphy, Rabeni, Hipkiss, Gibson, A. Tuilagi, Goode, F. Murphy, Ayerza, Chuter, White, L. Deacon, Kay, Moody, M. Jennings, Corry.

Replacements: Vesty for G. Murphy (78), Smith for Gibson (51), Humphreys for Goode (63), Moreno for Ayerza (74), Buckland for Chuter (78), Cullen for Kay (54), B. Deacon for Moody (78).

Att: 81,076

Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland).