14 May 2005
Martin Johnson paid tribute to triple champions Wasps after finishing his Leicester career on the losing side.

The Tigers finished the regular season at the head of the Zurich Premiership table – but Wasps are masters of the big occasion and completed a hat-trick of  Zurich Premiership final victories with a 39-14 victory.

Former England captain Johnson and fellow World Cup winner Neil Back both brought down the curtain on their distinguished domestic careers at Twickenham.

But their team couldn’t rise to the occasion against a side Johnno admitted played with “a higher intensity”.

"I'm very disappointed, not because it's my last game but because we didn't do it today. We haven't played and it's a nasty feeling,” said Johnson.

"We beat them a few weeks ago but you've got to win here to be champions.

"We've got stand up and say they are the better team. They played better on the day and their forwards played with a higher intensity than they had in any of their games against us this season.

"We probably had more territory than them in the first half and had two or three chances but we didn't take them.

"We went behind and then their defence was very good. They also kicked very well to pin us back. They had the momentum all day."

Lawrence Dallaglio led by example for Wasps as they bid goodbye to boss Warren Gatland, who leaves the club to return to New Zealand this summer.

Dallaglio said: “I think we are worthy champions. We were beaten by Leicester a few weeks ago but we had the comfort of the play-offs then and we were up for it today.

“This team has become a team that wins when it has to win. Leicester like to feed off your mistakes but we played error-free rugby."

Gatland, who returns to his home country to coach Waikato, focused on Dallaglio’s contribution with a glowing tribute.

"Lawrence Dallaglio is the best leader in the game that I've ever seen," he said.

"He is the sort of player you want to be in the trenches today and he was first over the top today.

"We were written off before the game and today we really wanted it bad. We won well and I'm really proud of the boys."