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Wasps were forced to come from behind to reach their second final after Northampton Saints had given them an almighty shock in the first quarter.
Saints may have been massive underdogs, but they showed their battling spirit as they raced into a 13 point lead in almost as many minutes at Coventry Ricoh Arena.
Inspirational skipper Bruce Reihana lead the charge with a third minute corner try which he also converted. Then the Saints' fullback kicked two penalties on give his side a handy lead.
It if wasn't exactly crisis time for Lawrence Dallaglio's Wasps side they certainly had to dig deep to find some answers.
In 2000 Northampton Saints tucked up Munster at Twickenham with a narrow 9-8 win. Five years later London Wasps snatched a 27-20 victory at the same venue at the expense of Toulouse.
A semi-final defeat will hurt - but the inevitability of sport means that one side will leave the Ricoh arena broken hearted on Sunday afternoon.
Will it be Saints, whose Heineken Cup campaign has been the one shining light in an otherwise dismal term that sees them facing possible relegation from the Guinness Premiership? Or will it be Wasps, who have defended their way to the semi-finals with a 5-1 Pool stage record and a 32-13 demolition of highly fancied Leinster in the quarter-finals?
Cup rugby is special, cup rugby is unique - a one off. Form will count for nothing - as Northampton showed against Biarritz in the semi-final - and these two teams will do anything to make it to the Heineken Cup final at Twickenham on May 20.
First up was a Mark Van Gisbergen penalty and then Heineken man of the match Paul Sackey zipped over in the right corner for the first of his two tries.
That cut Saints' advantage to five points at the interval and a second Van Gisbergan penalty nine minutes after the break reduced it even further.
Wasps coach Ian McGeechan took Dallaglio after 57 minutes and moments later his replacement James Haskell was driven over for a try from a short range lineout that put Wasps ahead for the first time.
That score broke Saints resistance and further tries from Sackey and replacement centre Josh Lewsey, both of which Van Gisbergen converted, confirmed Wasps' second Heineken Cup final appearance.
It means two former champions will now meet at Twickenham next month with the trophy destined to return to England for the first time in three years.
| No. | Name | T | C | D | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Mark van Gisbergen |
2C |
2P |
|
||
| 14 | Paul Sackey |
2T |
|
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| 13 | Fraser Waters |
|
||||
| 12 | Dom Waldouck |
|
||||
| 11 | Tom Voyce |
|
||||
| 10 | Danny Cipriani |
|
||||
| 9 | Eoin Reddan |
|
||||
| 1 | Phil Vickery |
|
||||
| 2 | Raphael Ibanez |
|
||||
| 3 | Peter Bracken |
|
||||
| 4 | Simon Shaw |
|
||||
| 5 | Tom Palmer |
|
||||
| 6 | Joe Worsley |
|
||||
| 7 | Tom Rees |
|
||||
| 8 | Lawrence Dallaglio (capt) |
|
||||
| 16 | Joe Ward |
|
||||
| 17 | Nick Adams |
|
||||
| 18 | Dan Leo |
|
||||
| 19 | James Haskell |
1T |
|
|||
| 20 | Mark McMillan |
|
||||
| 21 | Josh Lewsey |
1T |
|
|||
| 22 | Dave Walder |
|
| No. | Name | T | C | D | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Bruce Reihana (capt) |
1T |
1C |
2P |
|
|
| 14 | Sean Lamont |
|
||||
| 13 | Jon Clarke |
|
||||
| 12 | Robbie Kydd |
|
||||
| 11 | Ben Cohen |
|
||||
| 10 | Carlos Spencer |
|
||||
| 9 | Mark Robinson |
|
||||
| 1 | Tom Smith |
|
||||
| 2 | Matias Cortese |
|
||||
| 3 | Soane Tonga'uiha |
|
||||
| 4 | Damian Browne |
|
||||
| 5 | Christian Short |
|
||||
| 6 | Paul Tupai |
|
||||
| 7 | Ben Lewitt |
|
||||
| 8 | Daniel Browne |
|
||||
| 16 | Dan Richmond |
|
||||
| 17 | Chris Budgen |
|
||||
| 18 | David Gerard |
|
||||
| 19 | Christian Labit |
|
||||
| 20 | Johnny Howard |
|
||||
| 21 | Seamus Mallon |
|
||||
| 22 | Paul Diggin |
|
