LAWRENCE Dallaglio enjoyed a dream Twickenham farewell as Wasps sent him into retirement with another major trophy. The Wasps captain and England World Cup winner bowed out after his team once again proved themselves masters of the play-off system.
The newly-crowned Guinness Premiership champions made it four league titles in six seasons, ending arch-rivals Leicester's hopes of successfully defending the crown they won a year ago.
But Wasps were made to fight every inch of the way in front o
f an 81,600 world record club crowd after Tigers tries by wing Tom Varndell and scrum-half Harry Ellis during a six-minute spell threatened to wipe out a 17-point interval deficit.
Wasps had stormed clear through touchdowns by flanker Tom Rees and wing Josh Lewsey, while full-back Mark Van Gisbergen weighed in with five successful kicks. Van Gisbergen finished with 16 points – in stark contrast to goalkicking opponent Andy Goode, who slotted two from six attempts.
Van Gisbergen and Goode exchanged early penalties – then Wasps struck from their first meaningful attack, Rees diving over for a
try that Van Gisbergen converted from the touchline.
The Tigers briefly roared through wing Alesana Tuilagi's power, but Wasps finished the opening half with a ten-point blitz in six minutes. Van Gisbergen kicked another penalty after Leicester's England lock Ben Kay was fortunate to escape a yellow card, then Wasps struck a killer blow when a missed tackle by Tigers flanker Ben Herring allowed Lewsey to sprint clear and touch down. Van Gisbergen's fifth successful kick gave Wasps an imposing 23-6 interval advantage.
Leicester threw everything at Wasps from the restart, and scrum-half Ellis was agonisingly denied a try when his chip and chase was tapped behind his dead-ball line by a retreating Paul Sackey. Territorially, Tigers remained in the contest, but their lack of firepower was exposed until Goode unlocked Wasps' defence after 56 minutes. His clever cross-kick caused uncertainty in the Wasps defence, and after Van Gisbergen and Lewsey failed to clear, Varndell pounced for an opportunist score. Then when Ellis scampered over from the back of an uncontested scrum, Leicester were back in contention before another
Van Gisbergen penalty closed out the game.
The full article contains 389 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
