Wasps 35-15 Saracens: Match report & reaction

Match stats: Wasps 35-15 Saracens

Wasps tries: Young (20, 39, 78), Daly (71), Wade (59) 

Conversions: Gopperth (59, 71) 

Penalties:  Gopperth (16, 35) 

Saracens tries: Spencer (17, 63) 

Conversions: Lozowski (17) 

Penalties: Bosch (32)

Match report

Elliot Daly ran in the critical try to ensure Wasps finished the regular Aviva Premiership season at the summit of the table after a 35-15 victory over Saracens.

Dai Young's men, pacesetters for most of the campaign, were in danger of surrendering first place at the Ricoh Arena after Exeter left Gloucester with a bonus-point victory.

But Daly capitalised on a Saracens counter-attack that broke down to gallop home in the 71st minute, securing a maximum five-point haul for Wasps who pipped the Chiefs on matches won to set-up a home semi-final against Leicester.

Gift-wrapping a resounding win was a final late try from man of the match Thomas Young (pictured), who completed his hat-trick.

Wasps has already set a new Premiership record for tries scored in a 22-match season, beating the 85 amassed by Newcastle in 1997-98, while Christian Wade's score equalled the milestone of 17 individual tries that has stood for 20 years.

Saracens, the reigning Premiership and European champions, trailed 23-15 until Daly switched on the after-burners and attacked from inside their 22 as they sought the victory that would secure them a play-off at Allianz Park.

Instead they must travel to Exeter in a fortnight in search of a place of the Twickenham showpiece, ending their 22-match league campaign in third.

However, they could at least draw comfort in the knowledge they travelled to Coventry with a weakened team missing five British and Irish Lions and prolific wing Chris Ashton.

On a day when all fixtures are subject to a synchronised kick-off to protect the integrity of the league, the Ricoh Arena's independent safety officer ordered a 15-minute delay due to crowd congestion outside the ground.

A Premiership Rugby spokesman said that crowd safety overrides established final-day protocol.

It was Wasps who were quicker to swat aside the delay by making an imposing start with overseas stars Kurtley Beale and Willie le Roux making notable early runs, but Saracens' defence was typically robust.

It took 15 minutes for the first points to be registered, Jimmy Gopperth sending a penalty between the uprights, but from the ensuing kick-off the champions hit back aided by a defensive lapse.

Schalk Burger and Schalk Brits carried with conviction and when Ben Spencer arrived at the break down, a big hole appeared that the scrum fully exploited to touch down under the posts.

A brilliantly-executed short-range kick by Danny Cipriani - who was playing on the front foot as a result of Daly's break - was gathered by Young to propel Wasps back into the lead and the title pretenders then displayed their defensive mettle.

One big hit secured a crucial turnover before Michael Rhodes knocked on after being tackled forcefully and a period of sustained pressure from Saracens ended with a lengthy Marcelo Bosch penalty.

A Wasps counter-attack was ended with a blatant block by Sean Maitland on Wade that earned an immediate yellow card from Wayne Barnes and resulted in another three points from Gopperth's boot.

Now the pressure was building on the visiting line, starting with a five-metre scrum that owed everything to a committed chase before ending when le Roux's flat pass sent Young over for his second try.

The carrying of Wasps hooker Ashley Johnson, who had replaced the injured Tommy Taylor, was becoming a growing feature of the game but the home side were struggling to take their chances as Gopperth missed a third shot at goal.

Finally they made the breakthrough their play deserved when Wade was on hand to gather and touch down after Saracens failed to deal with a kick through by Kurtley Beale.

Spencer wriggled over as the champions responded with a precise series of forward drives that were brought to a successful conclusion by their scrum-half.

Play swung from end to end, Wasps replacement Dan Robson somehow unable to touch down after le Roux kicked on a dubious turnover.

But Daly showed stronger finishing skills when he raced on to le Roux's pass after Saracens dropped the ball when countering from deep inside their own hands and with two minutes left Young completed his hat-trick. 

Match reaction: Wasps 35-15 Saracens

Wasps boss Dai Young on securing top spot: "I'm delighted to finish top - really thrilled. That win will do us a world of good. Finishing top of the table is a major achievement and we're happy with that. We were the better team but they could have won. Saracens take some shifting, you have to beat them three or four times.

"We left a few points out there to be honest. We were a bit edgy and you could see we're not quite used to the big occasions. But the more you play them the more comfortable you get. We won the gainline battle, but were a little bit edgy and nervous. I'm sure Leicester will want to upset the party, but we are looking forward to another massive occasion."

On son Thomas scoring a hat-trick of tries: "Thomas is not a bad player. I think his mother would be pretty pleased! With the Welsh squad picked on Tuesday I hope he gets his opportunity in the summer. I thought he played really well in attack and defence. I don't know where he got his pace from, the milkman stopped delivering years ago!"

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall on his decision to rest senior players: "Whether people do or don't agree with the team we picked, we felt it was the right thing. We take the Premiership very seriously but we had some choices to make. The other semi-finalists all get to rest their players next weekend. We feel we've done the right thing because there were some players who we really felt needed to rest. One or two were carrying small injuries who would have played had this been the semi-final, but we thought it was a gamble playing them. The Champions Cup is a really important competition, a massive competition, so to be in the final again is brilliant.

"Wasps definitely deserved to win the game. Our effort was good but we made a lot of mistakes and they're not the type of team you want to make handling errors against. We were hanging on for a bit but the effort meant we were always in the fight. With 20 minutes to go it was an interesting game but we kept making mistakes."