Wasps beat Leicester 26-16 to win the English Premiership final on Saturday in Lawrence Dallaglio's farewell match.
Dallaglio left the field tearfully and with another title under his belt. It had been an emotional day for the 2003 World Cup winner and he was also in tears in the Twickenham tunnel before the match as he waited to lead Wasps onto the field, where fireworks and a crackling atmosphere lay in wait.
Tries from Tom Rees and Josh Lewsey, plus a faultless kicking display from full-back Mark van Gisbergen, helped Wasps open a 23-6 halftime lead.
Leicester hit back with tries from Tom Varndell and Harry Ellis, but Wasps closed out the victory to seal their fourth title in six years.
During a teary farewell speech in front of a packed Twickenham, Lawrence was typically humble.
“This is our greatest achievement, a monumental effort from everyone,” he said, before dedicating the victory to former England international Alastair Hignell, who is suffering from multiple sclerosis. “Today was not about me. It was a monumental team effort and I’d like to thank everybody who turned up here today.”
Van Gisbergen, kicking in Danny Cipriani’s absence, slotted Wasps into the lead with an early penalty before committing a major clanger under his own posts as he failed to gather Andy Goode’s chip forward.
Under real pressure, Wasps conceded the penalty. Leicester scrum-half Harry Ellis initially opted for a quick tap, which appeared the wrong decision as the Wasps defense swarmed.
But when Flutey was penalized for handling the ball on the ground, Goode stepped up to level the scores.
Then Wasps took charge with great efforts by loose forwards Rees and James Haskell. Scrum-half Eoin Reddan sliced through the middle and after powerful surges from Phil Vickery and Simon Shaw, Rees punctured the Leicester defense from close range to score the opening try.
Wasps were dominating possession and Van Gisbergen slotted a second penalty, opening a 10-point advantage after 23 minutes, before Leicester finally forced Wasps on to the back foot.
Giant Samoan winger Alesana Tuilagi charged through Reddan’s attempted tackle, but the Tigers were limited to a second Goode penalty.
Wasps responded by smashing the Tigers with a 10-point blitz just before the interval. When Goode’s penalty found the woodwork in the second half, in another incident which showed it was just not Leicester’s day, it fell nicely for Wasps who charged upfield, but they did not finish the move.
However, Leicester looked like they might push Wasps all the way when Varndell scored a try following good work from Geordan Murphy and this heralded a superb comeback. When Ellis nipped over to leave Wasps just seven points ahead it looked as though Leicester might just have a chance of completing a fine comeback.
Van Gisbergen scored another three points for Wasps from the boot for their first points following the break.
Leicester gave it their all in the closing minutes but the 10-point gap remained leaving Dallaglio to celebrate heartily with his teammates.
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