Match Reaction: Dai Young Post Saracens

Following a special day for the club after the squad produced a mesmerising 23-64 win at the home of the Premiership Champions, Wasps’ Director of Rugby Dai Young knew it was a day to savour.

“I am absolutely delighted for the players and fans watching that performance. It was one of those days when everything seemed to go our way and every pass stuck. I’m delighted with the way we played. We went out there with a clear intent to play. We knew the first 20 minutes were going to be hugely important for us and thankfully we got into our stride very quickly and got scores on the board.
“The really pleasing thing was that we didn’t let up. There was real quality across the board and there wasn’t a poor performance out there. Every area of our game went as we had talked about trying to achieve during the week. I’m absolutely thrilled with the performance of every player.
“I was really pleased with the pack, against the form team in Europe. Our scrum was good, our lineout was good and our ball carriers got us going forward. Our set piece was a lot better today than it was when we played Saracens at home, which allowed us to have the platform to launch our play. We talked about discipline and accuracy with the ball and we earned the right to play on the back of a good set piece, allowing our backs to show what they could do. Everything went to plan today and you have to commend the players for that performance.
“We wanted to play with real tempo in our game and we did that. Saracens’ defence is well-renowned at closing down your space, but we knew if we could get some front-foot ball and inject some tempo into our play, we would make it difficult for their defence to get set. That’s pretty much the way it went for us today.
“We won’t run away with ourselves, as these kind of performances don’t happen too many times and we know everything went our way today, but in saying that, I am incredibly proud of the players and the quality they produced out there today.
“This is my fifth season at Wasps and I think we’ve only beaten Saracens once in that time. In the past we’ve tried to play that same way, but they’ve been too good for us on the day. They’ve had more good days than us, but today was our day and so we will enjoy it.
“Hopefully this will give the boys the belief and confidence to know we can go away from home and produce performances like that. Northampton away was a fantastic win for us, backed up with this one, which I think shows we are growing as a group and can produce some big performances. A number of players put their hand up for man of the match today, every player deserves praise, overall it was an outstanding team performance."