WASPS captain Tom Rees admits the players let the club down last Saturday and blotted what was otherwise an unprecedented success.

More than 60,000 fans flocked to Twickenham for Wasps’ inaugural St George’s Day game against Bath, but a 35-19 defeat left the black and gold contingent slightly underwhelmed at the end.

Rees said: “As an event we can be very proud of it, but it was built around a rugby match and we lost.”

“It wasn’t a performance the occasion deserved.”

After leading Wasps to the Heineken Cup in 2007, Lawrence Dallaglio challenged the commercial department to live up to the achievements of the team – the boot was on the other foot on Saturday.

Rees said: “You have a duty to the supporters. Hopefully they enjoyed the day but they want to see their team win.

“Then you’ve got a duty to your club-mates who aren’t players, the staff who put an awful lot of hard work in behind the scenes to make the day happen.

“We’ve been reasonably good to them over the past few years and they repaid the faith by putting on such a good event.

“It’s just a shame we couldn’t get the victory and for us as players there is no getting away from the fact that we were the part of the day that didn’t deliver.”