Tributes rain down on Lol
Lawrence Dallaglio lifted the Guinness Premiership trophy in his final act as a professional rugby player – a fitting end to a fine career, according to his long-term friend and rival, Leicester captain Martin Corry.
Lawrence Dallaglio lifted the Guinness Premiership trophy in his final act as a professional rugby player – a fitting end to a fine career, according to his long-term friend and rival, Leicester captain Martin Corry.
Dallaglio, the heartbeat of Wasps for 18 years and 339 games, led the club to their fourth title in six seasons with a 26-16 triumph over the Tigers.
Wasps surged into a 23-6 half-time lead with tries from Tom Rees and Josh Lewsey and, although the Tigers threatened a second-half comeback, the deficit proved too great.
Dallaglio, who was in tears before taking to the field, departed the action on the hour to a rousing ovation from a world record crowd of 81,600.
“It is the only way to finish,” said Dallaglio.
“I chose Wasps because they were top of the table. When I arrived at Wasps I wasn't in the greatest place in the world.
“I had lot of issues after losing my sister the year before and I felt very much at home. I was among the right people and it was a special place. It has been for the last couple of decades.
“This club is all about the players and about the people.
“I have been very privileged to have had a lot of special days.”
Dallaglio has won all seven Twickenham finals he has played for Wasps – four Premiership grand finals, two Heineken Cup finals and a Powergen Cup final.
“I have been spoiled at Twickenham, not just for Wasps but for England. This is a great place to play rugby. Grand final day is great. Clearly Wasps enjoy it.
“This was a phenomenal effort from everyone involved in the club. I am very proud.
“It is great to be able to call yourself champions of England. To be a great club you need to be able to win the title.”
Given Wasps were in 10th place at Christmas, Dallaglio rates this title as a greater achievement than even those two Heineken Cup victories.
“We have had some great days in the last few years but given where we were after the World Cup this is probably our greatest achievement,” he said.
Wasps director of rugby Ian McGeechan and Corry both paid tribute to Dallaglio's career.
McGeechan said: “He is a fantastic example. He plays with emotion, talks with it and leads with it. That rubs off on the players and the coaches that he is involved with.
“I never thought I would see a game when the Wasps fans outnumbered Leicester in the crowd. That was down to Lawrence.
“I think a lot of people made a special effort today to come to this game because of the man.”
Corry, a long-time rival, added: “You can just see by all the column inches he has had leading up to this game how highly he is regarded.
“All the plaudits he has had this week have been richly deserved. He has been magnificent for Wasps and England. As a competitor he has been a great man to play against and we have always had some great battles.”
Dallaglio has been an intrinsic part of Wasps for nearly two decades and he will continue to work for the club in a business role next season.
“On the pitch we are in great health. We have a fantastic set of coaches, a fantastic squad and we will look to try and develop that.
“But there are bigger challenges off the field. Rugby is about to take another leap into the next level of professionalism.
“There are clubs around the country and in Europe playing in big stadiums, the tills ringing every week and the budgets are getting bigger.
“We want to be competitive. There is no doubt players make huge sacrifices to be at Wasps because they want to be in that environment, they want to win. But we need to be able to boast some of the best stadiums in the country, the best squad and the best stadium.
“One of the challenges I face is to make that happen and to bring the business in line with the excellence we have demonstrated on the field.”
Wasps also bade farewell to centre Fraser Waters, who departs for Treviso in the summer despite the best advice of head coach Shaun Edwards.
“I think he is making a mistake going because I think he had an outside chance of going on the Lions tour next year. I have told him that,” said Edwards.