Sunday 20th May 2007
Preeti VIrdee from Twickenham

25 - 9

It was billed as the biggest game in club rugby in history; Leicester were adamant they were going to complete the treble this year which had never been done before, and they were on a roll, having won 13 consecutive games and beaten London Wasps twice already this season. Wasps, on the other hand had never lost a final at Twickenham. And the match was being beamed to one hundred countries across the globe.

It was a beautiful day for rugby on this Sunday afternoon; the sun radiated over the home of English rugby as the European rugby record-breaking crowd of 81,076 took their seats in anticipation of this spectacle. This truly was the end of the season and the pinnacle of the game. From the moment the ball took flight, the masses erupted to thundering levels. And from what I could ascertain, behind the rugby writers' Press Box I was surrounded by Wasps supporters; a comforting situation to be in for this allegedly unbiased reporter who if she wasn't working, as a Londoner would have no hesitation at being the most vocal Wasps fishwife in the stadium.

It took Wasps only four minutes to take the lead as Alex King slotted a good penalty: 0 - 3; drums drummed, clangers clanged, horns hooted and the Wasps fans began the process of trying to deafen the temporary population of Twickenham Stadium on this dazzling afternoon. A clash with Lewis Moody dazed Alex King momentarily [who today joined the ERC Elite50Club and became the 44th player to receive his 50th European Rugby cap], but as play continued, Wasps gave away a penalty and Andy Goode had a simple job from in front of the posts to equalise the score: 3 - 3.

Resembling a game of tennis, the game went back and forth from Tigers territory to Wasps to Tigers during the next ten minutes, and King had a difficult shot at goal which bounced back off the posts. Eventually off a 10m lineout in Wasps' favour, French hooker Raphael Ibanez executed his first clever lineout manoeuvre by passing directly in front to scrum-half Eoin Reddan who slam-dunked in the corner. This time King's aim faltered but Wasps had begun their onslaught; fifteen minutes in the score was 3 - 8.

So far every time Wasps notched up points, the Leicester retaliation was ferocious and within two minutes, the Tigers capitalised on a penalty to bring the score closer to 6 - 8. The jinx of the North Stand posts, however, hung over Alex King as he missed yet another kick which just fell short of the cross bar making his hit rate 1 out of 4. So far I would estimate at least 70% of the action had taken place in Tiger-land; a scrum finally drew handbags as 5' something Ibanez started on 6' 5" Corry who towered over him. 

Leicester desperately tried to gain some territory and Fiji and Pacific Islander winger Rabeni found space, but Tom Voyce quickly put pay to his efforts. The Tigers finally got inside the opposition 10m line and their supporters erupted; this time England teammates Corry and Vickery clashed handbags but only a slap on the wrist was required from the Ref.

Half an hour into the game, Tiger Ben Kay headed for the corner posts and touched down to take Leicester into the lead, but thanks to the formidable captain, Lawrence Dallaglio's tackle the ball spilled forward and the video Ref concurred.

Time had just flown by in the blink of an eye, and half time was almost upon us. The bulldozer that is Alesana Tuilagi - seen as Tigers not-so-secret weapon - got his hands on the ball and began his charge but Ibanez, Worsley and Sackey managed to stem his flow. Tuilagi held onto the ball a fraction too long for Irish Ref, Alain Roland's liking and Wasps again had a 5m lineout on the nearside this time. I must admit as soon as I saw Raphael's stance at the head of the lineout, I could not stop myself from laughing out loud as it was very apparent what was about to transpire; it was almost déjà vu as Ibanez passed forward to the gorgeous Simon Shaw who immediately passed it straight back for the Frenchman to score in the corner. King's hex continued as he failed to convert, but with five minutes to go, the score rose to 6 - 13. The Tigers were not having the same issues with their fly half - no thanks to Wasps' Tom Palmer's infringement - Andy Goode slotted over his third penalty to go into the break only 4 points down. Tigers 9, Wasps 13. However, this score was not particularly reflective of the game so far as had King's kicks been successful, they would have been another 10 points clear.

During half time, his holiness Mr Martin Johnson CBE, captain of England's World Cup winning side of 2003, graced the pitch to make an appeal on behalf of the Madeleine Fund, in attempt to find the missing four year-old Madeleine McCann, which was being publicised at every major sporting event throughout the country, along with the appeal video. And for this cause, both teams today were sporting yellow ribbons on their jerseys.

On to part two, and the hope was that the pace, momentum and excitement of the first half would be replicated...the teams did not fail to please. A minute into the game and the Tigers conceded a penalty as the sun hid behind the clouds. This time King had no trouble in taking the scoreline to 9 - 16. Quite oddly, as the Sky cameras panned over to Wasps Coach, Shaun Edwards, he was busy brushing up on his scholastic endeavours as he sat reading a bound red book!

Again on being faced with an increasingly unfavourable score, Leicester immediately made significant inroads deep into the Wasps' nest. Goode secured the penalty, but the North Stand jinx was proven to be true as he missed. As Leicester knocked the ball on, Paul Sackey gained some significant ground for Wasps, followed by an Oscar-winning dramatic footballing performance on the ground as he was taken down like a tonne of bricks. To Wasps advantage, the penalty was awarded, but bad form began to intrude as Leicester supporters jeered as King lined up to take the kick, though he had no trouble notching up another 3 points; 9 - 19.

The next passage of play continued Sackey's footballing performance as the ball was kicked up and down the field until Andy Goode finally found touch. As James Haskell came on to replace the herculean Lawrence Dallaglio, Wasps' well-practised set piece worked perfectly as King was positioned in the hole to take a drop goal; Tigers 9, Wasps 22.

Leicester Coach, Pat Howard looked perturbed on the sidelines as he paced in this, his last ever match for Leicester Tigers; as substitutions were made on both sides with Leo Cullen and Dan Leo coming on for Ben Kay and Simon Shaw, the Tigers attemped to replicate Wasps lineout magic on the 10m line, but failed hopelessly. Leicester did not appear to have the same fires burning in their soul that Wasps had so obviously profited from today. The stats spoke for themselves as Leiceseter had so far made 6 handling errors to Wasps 1, and with less than twenty minutes to go, Leicester would have to create some magic if they had any chance of rivalling the London team.

The ball continued to yo-yo between the squads, but any advantage Leicester gained was quickly stifled by the boys in black. The execution in Wasps' play was becoming more erratic and uncontrolled - this was no time for them to lose their cool; the 13 points that Leicester needed to equalise was still achievable with fifteen minutes to go. Despite the unruly and irritating child behind me kicking me in the back to probably not intentionally cause a lapse in concentration, the Tigers suddenly showed a burst of inspiration as they found space to get he ball out to Tuilagi; unfortunately for him he was hurled into touch.

As the sun re-emerged, there cannot have been a person in the stadium who was not on the edge of their seat with excitement; James Haskell took the ball and ran three quarters of the length of the pitch before Ian Humphreys tackled him down 5m out, but Wasps somehow managed to retain possession. Leicester conceded yet another penalty, and King worsened the outcome for the Tigers with a good kick. Tigers 9, Wasps 25.

I know they say in rugby anything's possible, but with six minutes to go, even the giants of English rugby, Leicester Tigers would find this an insurmountable trap to escape from. As more substitutions were made with Mark Van Gisbergen and Peter Bracken on for Alex King and Phil Vickery, despite the Ref not seeing it, a blatant forward pass from Leicester was finally brought to his attention by a touch judge on the Wasps 10m. Wasps forced play back towards Tiger-land, and though Tuilagi got possession again, Sackey was marking him like a hawk to make sure he could not gain any advantage.

Three minutes to go and the Heineken Cup Man of the Match was named as Frazer Waters. Reverberating chants of "Lawrence Dallaglio" circumnavigated the stadium even though he was now on the sidelines; anything the Tigers attempted now would be futile. The London Wasps took their third European and second Heineken Cup title as Leicester fans sat in shock and disbelief having encountered such a bruising and demoralising spectacle for their Guinness Premiership and EDF champions team; during the second half of the match the Tigers could not muster a single point.

As the clock counted down, so did the Wasps fans out loud, and Twickenham erupted like a volcano in celebration of the new champions of Europe.

Heineken Cup Champions 2007 London Wasps

And the aftermath? Captain Martin Corry was shuffled into the post match press conference with outgoing Coach Pat Howard, and they were probed and poked and prodded like specimens on a petrie dish, but unfazed, this is what they had to say...

Pat Howard on...

...The Game: "We took our chances...we let in two soft tries...it was a physical battle...[the lineout] is a common play of the wasps - we had prepared for it...they had a plan to execute our lineout".

...The Team: "Martin Corry, the club, the leadership have done a great job this year. We didn't play well enough...I'm immensely proud of the players...we beat some very good teams to get here. I appreciate we weren't good enough today".

...The Treble: "The treble is possible...it can be done".

...Leaving: "I've made the right decision. It's time to go...to walk away".

Martin Corry on...

...The Game: "When you defend the lineout as foolishly as we did, you're gonna lose. Second half we gave everything...we gifted 10 points".

...On The Fatigue Factor: "It's a long season. We can find excuses, but no. What Pat's done is rotated the squad throughout the season. The lads were feeling fresh and fired up. No excuses of tired...we were beaten by the better side today".

And for the champions, the line-up was Director of Rugby Ian McGeechan, Captain Lawrence Dallaglio, Coach Shaun Edwards, and assistant coaches Craig Dowd and Leon Holden, all finding it difficult to supress their cheshire cat-like grins.

Geech on...

...The Game: "This was the first match all season where we had a full squad...we have the best lineout stats in this competition...all credit to Leon [Holden on the lineout tries], he tried something different and it worked".

...The Team: "Credit goes to everyone...the squad has been superb".

...On Wasps 'A' Team: "...we got a game internally - they were the only team to beat the European champions recently!"

Shaun on...

...The Game: " ...we changed defence a little bit...let's be frank, it worked".

...The Team: "Massive credit has to go to the conditioning staff".

...Tuilagi: "no other wingers [Voyce and Sackey] could have stopped him".

...Tom French's Debut [as prop]: "In the end the final call came down to Raphael and Vickery...they said it was Tom French".

Lawrence on...

...The Game: "Everyone told me this was the best Leicester team ever...we must be the best Wasps team ever...we were targetting this competition at the beginning of the season and we won...I rate this as Number 1 in all our finals...I came off because of a knee injury - James Haskell came on and did a great job...in the second half Leicester didn't score a point! We've been without 14 first choice players most of this season. We certainly got a tough game".

...Wasps: "...we haven't got a stadium, the money, financial backing, 17,000 fans, our own ground - but we have soul. When I retire I just want to remember the wins".

For the full gallery direct from Twickenham, CLICK HERE