European Rugby Champions Cup
James Haskell calls for new Wasps era
ESPN Staff
May 25, 2014
James Haskell rampages forward for Wasps against Stade Francais in Paris © Getty Images
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Wasps flanker James Haskell was in a bullish mood after Saturday's victory over Stade Francais as he called for a new era of success for the Aviva Premiership club.

Wasps qualified for next season's inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup with a 20-6 victory over Stade in Paris and Haskell called on his team-mates to end talk of a "transition" phase at the club.

"This marks the end of the recovery and transition phase," Haskell told the Rugby Paper. "It's the start of us doing ourselves justice. We can't harp on about what used to happen at Wasps. I think I'm the last guy left of that team.

"It's a totally different set-up, new talented players and we've got really exciting new signings coming in and we want to be playing against teams of the quality of Stade Francais more often."

Wasps went into Saturday's play-off second leg with a slender advantage having taken the first leg 30-29 at Adams Park. The victory in the French capital sees them qualify for the Champions' Cup with a convincing 50-35 aggregate win.

"This was the biggest game we've played for about five years. Our fans' support has been invaluable over the last few seasons as they've stuck with us and we really appreciate the efforts many of them made to come over to support us."

Wasps director of rugby Dai Young hailed his side's performance as one of their best of the season. "It was probably the first time we've played for the full 80 minutes," he said. "We did very little wrong throughout and I felt we wanted it more than them.

"The boys did themselves proud. I'm really proud of their efforts."

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