Wasps director of rugby Ian McGeechan hailed Danny Cipriani’s display in the 19-14 Guinness Premiership defeat by Saracens as his finest of the season.
Cipriani, back after a career-threatening ankle injury, missed three of his six shots at goal but was a constant threat in attack.
McGeechan names his Lions squad for the summer tour to South Africa on April 21 and his glowing assessment appears to enhance the 21-year-old’s chances of being involved.
“We’ll have to see a bit more (before deciding whether he is ready for the Lions),” said McGeechan.
“That was comfortably the best game I’ve seen Danny play since he’s come back.
“That was pretty close to where he was last year before he got injured and I can’t give him any higher praise than that.
“That’s what’s been missing and he had a confidence today that he’s not had recently. There were a lot of good things in his game.”
Saracens winger Francisco Leonelli crossed in the 81st minute to effectively end Wasps’ faint hopes of reaching the Premiership play-offs.
When Tom Voyce touched down with three minutes to go it appeared Wasps had snatched victory but Leonelli had the final say.
They must now produce a spectacular winning run in their last four games to have any hope of qualifying for next season’s Heineken Cup but coach Shaun Edwards refused to concede defeat.
“We’re not going to make the Premiership play-offs but still have a slim chance of the Heineken Cup and we’ll give it everything we’ve got,” he said.
“The last time we weren’t in the Heineken Cup was in 2002-03 when we won the Parker Pen Challenge Cup and Premiership. After that we won trophies for six consecutive seasons.
“If you do miss out on the Heineken Cup it’s disappointing but the lesser competition can be used as a building block for the next season.”
