WASPS are getting used to Twickenham torment.

They lost 42-40 to Harlequins two seasons ago after leading 40-13, they hit an upright in the last act of match to miss out on victory 12 months ago and today against Saracens they were 28-27 in front going into the final moments.

However, David Strettle slid over in the corner and despite considerable doubt as to whether he had grounded the ball under pressure from Elliot Daly, the TMO gave him the verdict after countless viewings and Sarries had snatched it.

It was, again, a bitter blow for Wasps who had come from 20-9 behind at half time to lead 28-20 thanks to a 15-minute blitzkrieg that yielded three tries.

Nathan Hughes scored the first of them before Christian Wade announced his return from nine months out with two of his own.

Strettle cut the gap to one point with his second of the match after 64 minutes, but Wasps must have thought their luck at Rugby HQ had turned when England fly half Owen Farrell pulled a 74th minute penalty that would have put Saracens back in front.

Minutes later Wasps were on the front foot again, in possession and deep in the Saracens 22.

But they weren’t able to kill the game off and, again, paid the ultimate price as Man of the Match Strettle stuck the knife in right at the end.

Until that point the headlines belonged to Wade, whose Twickenham double set pulses racing and reminded everyone just how much the High Wycombe superstar has to offer England rugby.

His first score hammered home the point as he shouldered England winger Chris Ashton the floor to reach Andy Goode’s chip, before he outsprinted Strettle to gather Ashley Johnson’s kick to claim his second.

By the end though, his efforts were in vain and it won’t get any easier next week against Northampton Saints – who put 50 points on Gloucester last night.

Wasps can take plenty of encouragement though. They named a team as strong on paper as any they’ve sent out since they were winning trophies.

Rob Miller, Sailosi Tagicakibau, Lorenzo Cittadini and James Gaskell were all making their black and gold debuts, John Yapp, Kearnan Myall, Ruaridh Jackson and Andrea Masi formed the spine of a powerful-looking squad.

It’s clear Dai Young is well on his way to assembling a squad ready to compete at the high end of club rugby again.

Saracens are already there though and that was manifestly evident in a first half during which they outscored Wasps by two tries to nil despite having little of the ball and playing for ten minutes a man down.

Ashton and Strettle were their scorers after seven and 22 minutes, although Wasps full back Miller could have stopped the first and should have stopped the second.

He got his arms around Ashton but couldn’t bring him down as Saracens went over for the game’s opening try, while the second made even worse viewing for Miller, who appeared to have all the time in the world as he retreated to pick up a fairly aimless punt forward.

However, that time quickly evaporated as he ambled over the turf, allowing a sprinting Strettle to make up the ground behind him.

Suddenly under pressure as he reached the bobbling ball, Miller couldn’t gather and succeeded only in batting it backwards to set it up for the Sarries man to skip over his prone body and run in unopposed.

It was an inauspicious start to Miller’s Wasps career, but he wasn’t the only one at fault as Wasps wasted their dominance in the opening 40 minutes.

They certainly had more of the ball and three penalties, all converted by an on song Andy Goode, underlined the pressure they were putting on the winners of the regular season in each of the last two seasons.

Wasps also forced Saracens down to 14 men when Scotland’s Kelly Brown was yellow carded for cynically stopping an attack that had promised much after Nathan Hughes and then Matt Mullan had made muscular progress through the middle of the field.

But despite plenty of possession, they didn’t make the most of a handful of promising positions.

Wade looked the most likely as he tried in vain to wriggle through half gaps, although he would have had a clear run in had Daly offloaded instead of taking the ball into contact when Wasps worked a three on two.

And another gilt edged chance looked to have got away from them at the start of the second half when Joe Simpson weaved out of traffic and galloped into open ground.

Again Wade was outside of him with clear grass to accelerate into, but again the pass didn’t come.

However, before Wasps fans could bury their heads in their hands Wasps had recycled to send Hughes powering through under the posts.

Goode’s conversion cut the gap to 20-16, but the storm was just gathering and Wade was the lightning bolt striking at Saracens.

His first try was manufactured by Goode’s clever diagonal chip, although Wade had plenty to do to out muscle Ashton and touch down an inch before he ran out of space.

Twickenham erupted. The prodigal son had returned and minutes later he was at it again after Johnson’s superb surge through the Saracens line.

With a pass outside blocked, the South African back row kicked ahead and there was only ever going to be one winner as Wade and Strettle took off after it.

Suddenly they were 28-20 in front, and although that gap was cut to a point by Strettle’s second try, Wasps must have thought they’d done enough to take a huge top four scalp when Farrell missed from off the tee six minutes from time.

Wasps are still learning the art of finishing games off though, and this would be another tough, tough lesson.

Team: Miller, Wade, Daly, Bell, Tagicakibau, Goode, Mullan, Festuccia, Cittadini, Launchbury, Gaskell, Johnson, Haskell, Hughes. Reps: Lindsay, Yapp, Swainston, Thompson, Davies, Jackson, Masi