Don't worry, Danny

Cipriani's injury, which left him screaming in pain and needing oxygen, marred London Wasps' celebrations as they reached the Guinness Premiership Final by defeating Bath at Wycombe yesterday.

Dallaglio needed the metal plate and screws to repair a fractured ankle that wrecked his 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand. He came back well enough to play in the World Cup two years later and remains hugely competitive as Wasps attempt to give their captain the perfect send-off against Leicester at Twickenham on 31 May.

While Dallaglio featured heavily during and after the 21-10 win over Bath, it was Cipriani's suspected fracture and dislocation of his right ankle that saw him admitted to hospital and cast a shadow over the semi-final triumph.

Given that Cipriani is only starting out as an international player, he has plenty of time to make up for the probable four to six months that the injury will require to heal. There will be a natural desire from Cipriani to come back quicker than the experts predict, but he will be told, in no uncertain terms, by Dallaglio and the Wasps management, that no shortcuts will be allowed.

The Cipriani injury, coupled with Tom Voyce's dislocated shoulder, has left Wasps needing to hold a medical roll call to determine their team for the final. Also ruled out by long-term injury are England captain Phil Vickery and Dave Walder, who broke his leg when deputising for Cipriani last month.

Rafael Ibanez, the ex-France captain and hooker, is expected to make a swift recovery from the back spasm that kept him out of the Bath game while England stars Josh Lewsey and Simon Shaw are soldiering on despite various problems that require complete rest over the summer.

It portrays Wasps as a team limping into the final against a Leicester side that squeezed past Gloucester 26-25 in another punishing match.

The whole question of why a long Premiership season needs the extra games of a play-off system will be raised again now that Cipriani and Voyce have been badly injured.

However, Dallaglio insists these setbacks are inevitable. "There were injuries on both teams and ours looked to be a bit more serious," he said. "In a game of such ferocity there are always going to be casualties.

"It was a phenomenal effort to get into the final over the whole season and we had to scrap to beat Bath and our defence was magnificent. We were very clinical and it showed as we only had the ball twice in the first half and scored two tries."

Ian McGeechan, the Wasps director of rugby, believes his players have another big performance to offer in the final against Leicester.

He said: "We have two weeks to patch everyone up and put them out again. It will be important to manage the players carefully over those two weeks working with our medical staff."

Head coach Shaun Edwards will set the tone for the players as they prepare for the final.

He said: "All our training sessions and schedules are designed to peak at this time of the year and we expect the pressure to go up. To be honest, with the disruption caused by the World Cup, the lads have exceeded my expectations."