Rees instrumental in Wasps victory
11:39am Monday 2nd June 2008
London Wasps 26, Leicester Tigers 16
TOM Rees won the battle of north Hampshire's rugby stars at Twickenham on Saturday, scoring the opening try of the match and producing a fine all-round display as his Wasps side beat Tom Croft's Leicester to claim the Premiership title.
The former Basingstoke RFC colt produced an inspirational individual performance, producing a string of crunching tackles and forcing several turnovers in defence, while going forward, his strong running, physicality and clever offloading caused endless problems for Leicester.
"I enjoyed the game and felt I played quite well," Rees said. "I missed out through injury when we last won the title three years ago and while the Heineken Cup last year was fantastic, this is my first domestic title. I am pretty happy and will certainly enjoy it."
Rees' try came in the 12th minute and, while the finishing touch was applied from close range - the openside flanker diving over the line following a ruck less than a metre out - he had been instrumental in the move.
With scrum-half Eoin Reddan unable to get into position, Rees took his place on two occasions in the build-up to the score, recycling the ball well first time around before taking the play on himself a couple of phases later.
"I have scored a few tries in the past, but have had a bit of a drought this year," Rees said. "It's certainly the furthest out I have scored from in a while, it was a whole foot rather than half a foot.
"When I got there, I thought I would have a go, but the credit has to go to the boys behind me, who gave me a big push."
Croft, who grew up in Kingsclere, had to settle for a place on the Tigers bench, but came on after 57 minutes and made an impact, embarking on some good runs as Leicester attempted to fight their way back into the match.
"We are all massively disappointed," he said. "We left it too late, but showed at the end of the game that we could overcome and dominate Wasps."
Despite Saturday's disappointment, this season has been a good one for Croft, a blindside flanker.
While he is still to establish himself in the Leicester starting line-up, he made his England debut earlier in the year and will join Rees on the summer tour of New Zealand.
"I was happy to be involved in the 22 for the final," he added. "It would have been a massive disappointment if I hadn't been and the boys who started the game did a good job."
In front of a crowd of 81,500, a world record for a club match, Wasps got off to a positive start, putting Leicester on the back foot throughout the first half by winning the physical battle in the forwards.
Both sides kicked early penalties before Rees scored his 10th Premiership try, which was converted by Mark van Gisbergen to make the score 10-3.
After disrupting a Leicester scrum five metres from the Tigers' line, Wasps were denied a second try when Simon Shaw knocked the ball on, but van Gisbergen added another penalty to make the score 13-3.
Rees was then involved in the action at the other end, keeping his composure to claim the ball and kick clear following a dangerous punt over the top by Geordan Murphy, before producing a crunching tackle on Mefin Davies that led to an important turnover for his team.
Each side added three points to their scores with successful penalty attempts, but England winger Josh Lewsey extended Wasps' lead by finishing off a flowing team move, beating three men on his way to the line.
Van Gisbergen added the extras to give Rees and his teammates a deserved 23-6 lead at the break.
Leicester raised their game in the second half, matching Wasps up front and fighting their way back into the game.
Andy Goode hit the post with a penalty and Wasps' Paul Sackey had to be alert to prevent Harry Ellis from scoring after a good chip forward before Leicester collected their first try, Tom Varndell touching down after Murphy had cleverly tapped a crossfield kick back to him.
Croft entered the fray immediately after this and the Tigers got their second try four minutes later, scrum-half Ellis running in from the back of a scrum after prop Marcos Ayerza had been held up over the line.
Both conversions were missed by Goode, making the score 23-16 with 18 minutes to play.
Wasps recovered their composure after this and, following a good break from defence by Rees, were able to get themselves on the attack, van Gisbergen hitting a post with a penalty and Lewsey then knocking-on when close to the line.
Van Gisbergen then made the score 26-16 with a penalty from the Leicester 10-metre line, while Goode missed a more presentable chance for the Tigers as time began to run out.
A tackle by Rees on the edge of his own 22 set up a turnover with a minute to go and Wasps held on to the ball until the final whistle to secure the club's fourth Premiership title in six seasons.