Embarrassment for Gaffney

Saracens chief blasts embarrassing display in defeat against Wasps.

Last updated: 20th April 2008

Alan Gaffney Saracens

Gaffney: Furious

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Saracens director of rugby Alan Gaffney labelled his side's first half display against Wasps as almost his most embarrassing is rugby.

Sarries wore pink shirts in support of Brest Cancer care but Gaffney says the players' faces, and his own, were almost the same colour after a shocking opening 40 minutes.

Wasps kept their Guinness Premiership play-off challenge on track with a 40-29 success, with Raphael Ibanez, Tom Voyce and Paul Sackey adding to Dominic Waldouck's brace in a bewildering first 40 minutes.

Francisco Leonelli recorded a second hat-trick in as many home Premiership games as Saracens improved, but Gaffney was still fuming.

Embarrassment

"The first 40 minutes were close to the most embarrassing 40 minutes I've been involved in," said Gaffney.

"We had a heart-to-heart at half-time, the players realised they had to go out and do something in the second half and they fought a lot harder."

Gaffney warned his men that a repeat display when they face Munster in next weekend's Heineken Cup semi-final will see them torn apart.

"If we go through that exercise in conceding tries again next week, the team that punish sides the most is the side we're playing next week," Gaffney added.

"They punish sides more than anybody I've seen.

"We've got to make them play and earn the points they score, not us concede them."

Wasps buzzing

Ian McGeechan's men bagged an eighth win on the bounce with the victory that takes them up into third place in the Premiership table.

Wasps now face Gloucester, Newcastle and Leeds Carnegie in their search of a place in the semi-finals.

It was a great position to get into by half-time and it was always going to tell a bit in the second half," said McGeechan.

"All the time we've looked at fourth place to see how close we were and what we had to do to make sure we were around fourth coming into this last month of the season.

"With three games to go I think it'll go down to last weekend.

"It's in our hands and the players know that but they've got another three games in six days to come and that's a big ask but we've tried to freshen it up and we'll do that again in the last week."