WINGER Christian Wade admits scoring six tries on his 100th appearance for Wasps was a special moment but he has challenged his team to go on and achieve success this season after booking their place in the Aviva Premiership play-offs.
Wade was the star man for Wasps as his 14-minute first half hat-trick helped Dai Young’s side secure their eighth bonus point win of the season at Worcester on Saturday.
An entertaining 54-35 victory moved Wasps up second in the table and means they have now qualified for the play-offs for the first time since 2008.
“I’m over the moon to do this and to mark my 100th match with six tries is special,” said Wade. “You have to give credit to the other boys, as most of the tries were run-ins where I just had to use my speed to get there then score.
“I’ve never scored six tries in a match before, not even in the back garden. I didn’t play rugby until I was 12 or 13, so didn’t play mini rugby either, where a lot of tries are scored.
“We’re now at the business end of the season. It has been a tough couple of years for Wasps working our way back to where we feel we should be. We’re in a good position now with the squad we’ve got, and Saturday was like a quarter final for us to cement that top-four place.
“Next week we’ve got a European semi-final and we’re all raring to go and looking to keep building on the performances and try to keep winning.
“It’s been a good year for us and now we just need to keep pushing on and hopefully we’ll get rewarded for the hard work we’ve put in over the year.”
Wade became the first player to score six tries in a Premiership match since Ryan Constable 16 years ago and is now also the quickest player to reach 50 Premiership tries, taking his personal tally to 51 tries in 78 appearances.
But despite his personal triumphs, Wade was quick to praise the support of his team mates and coaches who have all helped Wasps get to their current position.
He added: “The brand of rugby we play suits me and also the other boys. We’ve got so many quick players in our backline and worked very hard in pre-season to be as fit as possible and play the full 80 minutes.
“The coaches give us licence to play what we see, so if we think there’s space and it’s on, even from in our own half, the boys have the confidence to go.
“Having he likes of Frank Halai, the Piutau brothers, Elliot Daly and Rob Miller gives us pace out wide and in midfield, and the skillset to be able to get the ball to the right places by hand or kicking it.
“100 games is a massive milestone and six tries and 50 Premiership tries is a huge thing as well, so even for someone who’s not a stats guy, there’s some good things there that I can be proud of and I’ll obviously remember this day for the rest of my life.”
