Efter gårdagens match

POST MATCH REACTION 

Dai Young Match Reaction - Post Saracens

Following Wasps' loss to Saracens, who retain their unbeaten status in all competitions this season, Dai Young said that the visitors deserved the win.

"You’ve got to give them credit," said Young, "I thought Saracens deserved to win today. They were the better side. I thought it was nip and tuck for most of the game, but a four minute period took the game away from us.

"It probably looked like a three-point game, but those four minutes with that first phase try, which was very disappointing from us, and the second try from a line break and a little bit of a loose pass that ricocheted off somebody’s heel - could’ve gone either way, but obviously it didn’t go ours. So we were a little bit unlucky with that second try, but the first one was disappointing and then we were chasing a win."

Wasps succumbed to a similar gameplan that Saracens deployed in the same fixture last season and, despite knowing exactly what was coming, Young said his side were unable to navigate their way around it effectively enough.

"The reality is they kicked the ball well over 30 times I think and they want you to run back. Their chase is so good, you’ve got to wait for the opportunities to play. It’s not the way we want to play and it’s not entertaining to watch, but it’s very effective; it’s very difficult to beat and you’ve got to wait for your opportunities to arise. 

"You’ve got to beat them at their own game and when you get opportunities, you have to take them. You’ve got to wait for that loose kick or if that chase isn’t quite there, beat the first man in the chase and then do the job. I think we had one or two opportunities today when we produced numbers, but our accuracy wasn’t quite there to really nail it.

"Saracens are very good at the brand of rugby they play. Every kick is on the money, every chase is really aggressive, and they strangle you. It’s up to the opposition to find a way around that and today we didn't manage to execute our own plan well enough.

"Knowing how they are going to play is one thing, but it’s very difficult to cope with and change that or stop them."

Young took the chance to reflect on where his side find themselves in their development. Having lost to a side who have been consistently near the top of the league, he said it was clear that Wasps were not the finished article.

"Obviously Saracens have been up there for three or four years, we haven’t. We’re a work in progress as I keep on saying. I know it’s a bit boring, but that’s where we are. Saracens have built their squad, they’ve been together for a number of seasons now and they’ve just got better and better. We’re on that journey I think. As we’ve seen today, we're not a million miles away from it but there's a little way to go.

"Fair play to them, I thought they deserved to win, they were the better team; they caused us lots of problems at set piece time. They took the game away from us when we couldn’t really take it away from them. Of course we’re disappointed but, as I said to the players, that should’ve been a three-point game - it could’ve been either us nicking it by three points or them. Obviously they took it away from us, but that’s the best team in the Aviva Premiership this season and it’s been the best team in Europe, so it shows we’re not a hundred miles away, but we still have to keep working. As I said, we’re a work in progress.

"We’ve got two massive games ahead now. First Sale and we've haven't had much joy going up there, so we need to go there and get a victory and then we’re back here at the Ricoh Arena for Worcester."

http://www.wasps.co.uk/news/article/2015/12/27/dai-young-match-reaction---post-saracens