http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_6176465,00.html
History, revenge and a great deal of needle will be in the air at Twickenham this coming Saturday. What more could you ask for from a final?
Both the gloves and protective gear had been shed a long time ago between these two and with one man already out of the ring altogether, all that remains is XV on XV in what should be a great spectacle played in front of 81,600 spectators.
Remarkably it will be the sixth successive year that Leicester run out as one of the last two in the English top flight so there is no one better at knowing what needs to be done on the big day. However, you just wonder whether their rivals have now gained a slight psychological edge.
Why? Well, love them or hate them, it is difficult to not have be impressed by what Saracens have achieved in the past nine months. Coming from being the perennial under-achievers of time gone by, they have developed a brand of rugby that sees them finally break into the latter stages. They have also uprooted the usually immovable forces that reside at Franklin's Gardens (twice) and of course Welford Road.
But those victories have unfortunately been tainted by things that have not been seen off a Guinness Premiership rugby field for a long time, if ever. We have had allegations of women being pushed, cheerleaders being smuggled into away venues and stalls being set up to sell Sarries merchandise, that is according to Saints Director of Rugby Jim Mallinder. The Rugby Football Union were forced to step in and only this week has the matter been finally put to bed with the controversial Brendan Venter having his stadium ban reduced from 14 to 10 weeks. He will still therefore be watching from somewhere else with a cup of rooibos/tea and, yes I am going to say it, maybe even a few biscuits without any judgmental eyes.
Venter's opposite, Richard Cockerill,
will be allowed through the gates after avoiding any disciplinary action for 'venting his frustration on the wall of the coaches box' so at least there will be one coach inside for the third-straight full house to watch England's final two.
That brings us to the game itself which should be a cracker between the team that has been there, seen it, done it against what appear to be one that is very much on the way up. Saracens will also be boosted by the timely return of captain Steve Borthwick but it is in other areas that their campaign can be measured, notably at full-back, number eight and hooker. Alex Goode, Ernst Joubert and Schalk Brits have been sensational this season.
And so we come back to Grand Final experience at this sort of venue. Maybe it will not be that much of a hindrance for Sarries though having played a handful of games at Wembley in order to tap into a possibly huge South African expat following. It seems to have worked too as their semi-final win at the Gardens saw a great deal more supporters who were also verbally vocal rather than last season's usual and highly annoying drum beaters.
Some things are for sure and those are that the tempo will be high at HQ as Leicester gun for their seventh Premiership ***le and also for revenge after that 32-23 negative on their home turf. Saracens meanwhile will not care a jot about history and reputations so expect a lot of intensity, drama and shouting both in and out the stadium, wherever Venter may be.
Form: Leicester, who will play in a sixth successive Premiership final, are chasing a seventh Premiership crown and a ninth English League ***le. Tigers' only defeat in their last seven encounters was 23-32 to Saracens at Welford Road on 8 May. Leicester have won just one of their last five appearances in finals in all competitions: 10-9 in the Guinness Premiership final at Twickenham twelve months ago. Tigers have won just two of their five previous Premiership finals. Saracens are chasing a first ever English league ***le and in fact have won just one piece of major silverware before - the 1997/98 Tetley's Bitter Cup where they beat Wasps 48-18 in the final at Twickenham. Saracens have won their last five games since their 28-29 reversal at Gloucester on 3 April. Having visited Twickenham on eight previous occasions, gaining five victories, Saracens have won both previous Twickenham finals they have contested: the 1998 Tetley's Bitter Cup and the 24-16 win over Gloucester in the Zurich Wildcard in 2005. The two teams reach this final with identical won 16, drawn 1, lost 6 records in the Guinness Premiership this season. Overall Leicester and Saracens have met on 63 previous occasions with Tigers winning 49 to 10 by Saracens and four games drawn. In the Premiership the tally is 26 meetings with 17 Leicester wins, seven Saracens wins and two draws.
One to watch:
For Leicester: Probably England's number one fly-half at the moment,
Toby Flood will be crucial to the Tigers' cause. His battle with Glen Jackson should be interesting but it will be his personal showing of game-management and solidity from the tee that is vital.
For Saracens: I came close to putting the battle at hooker in the head-to-head but instead believe that
Schalk Brits deserves his own section. This week named Rugby Players' Association Player of the Year and rightly so, but can he follow it up at HQ? Probably..
Head-to-head: Expect the battle at number eight between
Jordan Crane and Ernst Joubert to be one to savour this weekend. After being left out of England's touring squad that will soon be departing to the testing environment Down Under, the promising Leicester forward will be eager to prove a point to Martin Johnson. I would definitely take Crane on the trip as he will get you on the front foot more often than not but then again I don't pick the team. Summer signing Joubert meanwhile has also been impressive this year so it should be a great subplot at Twickenham as who wins could come down to this one.
Prediction: Very tough one to call but I think Leicester will just sneak it.
Tigers by 4!
The teams:
Leicester: 15 Geordan Murphy (capt), 14 Scott Hamilton, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 George Chuter, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Joe Duffey, 17 Dan Cole, 18 Boris Stankovich, 19 Craig Newby, 20 Ben Woods, 21 James Grindal, 22 Jeremy Staunton, 23 Dan Hipkiss.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Michael Tagicakibau, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Glen Jackson, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert (capt), 7 Andy Saull, 6 Jacques Burger, 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Richard Skuse, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Justin Melck, 21 Justin Marshall, 22 Derick Hougaard, 23 Kameli Ratuvou.
Date: Saturday, May 29
Kick-off: 17:30 BST
Venue: Twickenham
Referee: Dave Pearson
Assistant referees: Stuart Terheege, Robin Goodliffe
3 & 4: Wayne Barnes, Kevin Stewart
Television match official: Graham Hughes
Timekeeper: Andrew Turner
Assessor: Brian Campsall
