Director of rugby Tony Hanks admitted his Wasps side paid the price for missed chances in their 13-6 loss to Saracens.
Wasps boss praises team effort after Wembley loss
Wasps' Boxing Day defeat to Saracens was a blip, according to their director of rugby Tony Hanks.
Saracens ended their London rivals' six-game winning streak with a 13-6 victory in front of a crowd of over 50,000 at Wembley.
Wasps were comprehensively outplayed at the set piece and spurned a number of good attacking opportunities in the closing stages.
Hanks admitted that poor skills and decision making had contributed to the defeat but said he could not fault the effort of his men.
"What we weren't good at today was when we got into positions to put them away or to score points - we didn't take it," he said.
"There were a couple of times there where we've gone the wrong way. Had we gone the other side, we were in. And we've turned over a bit of ball in the 22.
"We'll look at the things we can control but I'm not going to question the effort today.
Gutting
"It's been a tough couple of months and this group of guys have worked bloody hard of the last couple weeks.
"It's gutting because there was a lot of effort and we said we'd never question our effort again.
"But we will question some of our skills and our decision making under pressure today.
"We'll have a look at it, it's a blip. Like I said it's been a tough week in terms of trying to get the squad out there.
"We've done it tough over the last month and we've really fronted up.
"Look, a ball or two sticks today and you come away with a draw or points, that's why we're disappointed.
"We'll probably reflect on it and think 'losing bonus point, we'll take that' it's something that we didn't do last year
"And we've got a really important game at home next week against Newcastle."
Delighted
Gavin Henson almost celebrated his return to rugby after a 21 month absence with a try on his Saracens debut.
Within a minute of coming on at outside centre in the second half, Henson crashed over with his first touch of the ball.
But Simpson's brilliant tackle ensured the Welsh star could not ground the ball and the tv official confirmed that the he had been held up
Henson said he was delighted with his performance, adding that he now had his sights set on a place in the starting line-up
"It was a great comeback for me," he said. "It was awesome. I slipped out of a couple of tackles, I felt pretty good out there I just wish I had longer.
"Hopefully I showed enough to try and get a start next time. I felt strong in the contact area so that's all good."
