JOSH Lewsey must have wondered why he'd returned to rugby on Sunday afternoon, when the team he served so well for more than a decade were destroyed at Northampton Saints.

The black and golds were brushed aside in a 39-3 hammering that was even more brutal than the 37-10 defeat they suffered at the hands of Saints at Adams Park in October.

It wasn’t like this when the World Cup winner retired two years ago.

He said: “We’ve got to take it on the chin.

“We made individual mistakes. We got beaten by a much better team on the day so there’s no arguments there.

“In terms of this run-in, we’ve got nothing else to lose now.

“We’ve got to try to instill belief in the guys and qualify for Europe and hopefully we can do that.”

Lewsey came off the bench to a rousing reception from all four corners of Franklin’s Gardens with ten minutes of the game to go.

It wasn’t enough time to have any discernable impact but his arrival on the pitch did at least give the impression that Wasps had a kingpin of their own to stand toe to toe with the big hitters in black and green.

However, he was quick to play down his role.

He said: “I was very fortunate to be part of some very successful teams but from my point of view it was the right time to go and honestly I haven’t missed it.

“I’m only here for a couple of weeks, it’s not like I’m making a comeback or anything.

“The reality is we’re down to our bare bones. Shaun [Edwards] came up to me in the week and said we needed a bit of cover on the bench.

“I’ll do whatever I can, but I’m still working at PWC during the week and inevitably I’m not as fit as I was.

“Hopefully I won’t have to play too often.”