WASPS' triumphant heroes were quick to heap praise on the man who materminded their third consecutive Premiership title in his last game in charge of the club.

Warren Gatland takes charge of his former club Waikato in New Zealand having collected five trophies in his three years as director of rugby at the Wycombe-based club.

And his charges say the club is in a much better position now than when he joined.

The club's England and British Lions star, Josh Lewsey, said: "In my opinion, his lasting legacy at the club will be the fact that he brought players in whom, two years ago, people thought were just journeymen at club level but who now play on the biggest stage and excel.

"That basically puts the club's long term position in a very healthy situation."

Gatland had plenty of re-building to do in his last season. Scrum half Rob Howley retired because of his wrist injury and crocked England centres Stuart Abbott and Fraser Waters have missed most of the campaign.

The coach has also had to provide long-term cover for props Will Green and Craig Dowd, who won't be playing at the club next season.

Among the beneficiaries have been Ayoola Erinle, Tom Rees, Richard Birket, John Hart and Tim Payne. Wing duo Rob Hoadley and Paul Sackey have also emerged as key components after signing from London Irish.

Hart said: "I owe a lot to Warren and the team. When we had a lot of injuries they could have easily gone and brought in more experienced players but they kept their trust in the youth and let me have the games and I'm just happy to pay them back with my performance.

"Warren's just taken it to a higher level with the conditioning we carry out and the way we play. He's set the standards and put the bar higher and the players thrive on that. They are always looking for something to aspire to and he's brought that into the team."

Lewsey says Gatland revolutionised the structure at the club, which meant the players played less rugby in training.

He said: "Warren Gatland came here and put the right structure in place. He employed one of the best fitness coaches in the world Craig White and he brought in Tony Hanks. The playing side of the club was very professionally run.

"The club don't train you for too long. It's very short and sharp. We put a lot of emphasis on the conditioning of the players and making sure they are fresh for games.

"Rugby can become quite monotonous if it's your job and you're doing it all day, every day, week in week out.

"We don't train for more than an hour rugby-wise but we spend a lot of our time conditioning ourselves and working on fitness. That's paid dividends for our club and has basically shown the way for other clubs."

Hoadley, who capped his first season at the club with a last-minute try against Leicester, said: "You can see the impact Warren has had.

"Wasps were struggling in the bottom or mid-table and Warren has just come in and turned it round incredibly."