Wasp Dallaglio launches stinging attack on Owens

WASPS captain Lawrence Dallaglio was unhappy with referee Nigel Owens’ decision to sin-bin Simon Shaw in Saturday’s Heineken Cup showdown, describing it as the “turning point” of the game.

“I thought we started the game really positively,” said Dallaglio after the game.

“But I thought the turning point — I’ll have to have a look at it on the tape, and take nothing away from Munster, they played well and played the conditions well — but, I mean, Simon Shaw’s sin-bin...I’m not sure if that’s a sin-bin offence.

“It’s a penalty, but in the context of what else has happened in the game...and the momentum of the game changed after that, they got two good penalties and went 9-3 ahead. I just felt whoever got the lead was going to keep it, and Munster are savage streetwise.”

Asked if Shaw’s yellow card had cost Wasps the game, Dallaglio shook his head.

“No, what I’m saying is the momentum of the game changed. It’s three-all and I don’t see that that is a sin-bin offence, not being 10 (yards); we had a couple of penalties when they weren’t 10 and none of them were sin-binned.”

The Wasps captain was asked if he’d spoken to referee Nigel Owens about the matter.

“No, I’m not going to speak to him about it,” said Dallaglio.

“When they’re a man down we’ve got to be extra careful — clearly, playing away from home, you’ve got to be whiter than white, and we weren’t, but I don’t think he (Shaw) deserved to go. They got two quick penalties, took the lead and were never going to relinquish that lead. But as I say, it’s not sour grapes, they deserved to win.”

Dallaglio conceded that the Wasps lineout hadn’t worked properly and also paid tribute to Munster’s outstanding out-half.

“The conditions were difficult for the lineout, we probably should have competed on theirs and it would have made life more difficult for them — they certainly competed aggressively on ours. We needed to win crucial balls at the right times and we didn’t, but we’ll take that away and look at it.

“Ronan O’Gara knows how to play a lead, especially on his own pitch. We’ll have to look at that, but ultimately we were beaten by a side which played the conditions better than us. Disappointing, but such small things can change the momentum of a game.

“We had a great first five or six scrums, knocking about, but no decisions seemed to be going our way.

“It’s not sour grapes, we can’t win this competition every year, that’s what makes it so tough. Best of luck to Munster, I wish them all the best in their progress.

“We’re a club that’s won at least one trophy every year for the last five years. We clearly can’t win the Heineken Cup now but we’ll have a crack at winning a few more this year.”

Asked if it was disappointing to relinquish their trophy, Dallaglio said: “It’s not our trophy. We won it last year, we’ve been lucky enough to win it twice and I think we’ve brought something to the tournament this year.

“Best of luck to Munster and to the other teams left in the competition.”