The game lacked some of the tension of previous years. Wasps had broken their cup final duck in a relatively straightforward run-out against Newcastle the previous year, exorcising some of the demons of the ghastly kicking we received from Saracens in 1998. But the game was given an edge as it was the third time we had played Northampton overt the previous few weeks. They had beaten us in a tense Heineken Cup quarter final a few weeks previously and we had beaten them, handsomely, in a league game. To add to the nerves, both teams needed a trophy win to qualify for the next year’s European competition. This was Wasps’ last chance: Northampton were gearing up for a Heineken Cup Final the following week but their trophy-less history made this pot a serious target for them.

This was also Wasps first year as “London Wasps” – a name which had attracted criticism but lacked the irony it has today!

Northampton came back us however but turnover ball ended up in the hands of Mark Denney whose solo effort sealed the game for Wasps. Kenny Logan’s conversion was the last kick of the game and the stage beckoned for Wasps, the victors 31-23. The previous year Mark Weedon had lifted the trophy. This year it was the big man, Lawrence!

Ten years later this game still sticks in my mind as one of my all-time favourites. Apart from the tension as the lead seemed to change endlessly this was a game where four Wasps legends shone. Lewsey, Leota, Logan and Denney.

I appreciate we had won silverware the previous year but for me this game was where the golden age started. The two years that followed saw the departure of Nigel Melville and no more trophies. But the core of that team – Lewsey, Logan, King, Leota, Shaw, Worsley, Volley and Dallaglio – went on to greater things as Wasps won every trophy available to them over the years that followed.

Sadly this was written only from memory as when I went to rewatch the game on VHS I found my video player – which I have had no cause to use for about 2 years – no longer works. So any details I have got wrong, please feel free to correct!

Wasps: J Lewsey; S Roiser, M Denney, R Henderson, K Logan; A King, M Wood; D Molloy, T Leota, W Green (A Le Chevalier 57-65), A Reed (M Weedon 65), S Shaw, J Worsley, P Volley, L Dallaglio (Capt.).

Referee: Brian Campsell

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