Exeter and Saracens set for Premiership title showdown

Adam Kyriacou
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In a repeat of last season’s final, Exeter Chiefs and Saracens will face off to be crowned Premiership champions at Twickenham on Saturday.

England’s two standout teams fittingly clash this weekend as Exeter look to wrestle the trophy from the grasp of the European champions.

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter sticks with an unchanged squad from that which won last weekend’s semi-final against Northampton.

That means Alex Cuthbert and Tom O’Flahery continue on the wings while Matt Kvesic remains at eight, with Sam Simmonds on bench duty.

“We’ve been able to pick this week from our strongest group of players that we’ve had all season, which is fantastic,” revealed the Chiefs boss.

“It’s great to see Sam Simmonds and Sam Skinner get more game time after being out for a long period.

“That creates a really decent group of back five forwards which we will need over the 80 minutes and then I think we are aware that we have two good front-rows and we need to make sure we utilise the work out of them over the 80 minutes.”

He added: “I think we have it in us, but we are going to have to be good because at the end of the day, it’s like an all-international clash, isn’t it? That’s what it comes down to and if it was England v Wales, we’d be saying the same thing. It comes down to the guys that lock it down on the day and get it right.”

Saracens have also named an unchanged starting XV for the Premiership final.

It means captain Brad Barritt will begin the showpiece at Twickenham. The 32-year-old has recovered from the hamstring injury which forced him off in Sarries’ semi-final victory over Gloucester.

17 of the 23 featured in last year’s final. Richard Barrington, Will Skelton and Ben Spencer start this time around while Liam Williams slots in on the wing having missed the triumph through injury.

Spencer and Williams both crossed for the Men in Black in last weekend’s win with winger Sean Maitland, selected on the left once more, also dotting down. The other three tries were scored by the latest club centurion Nick Tompkins who will look to make a similar impact from the bench.

Tom Woolstencroft joins the centre there in the only amendment to the matchday squad meaning prop Ralph Adams-Hale – one of 10 Academy products picked – will cap off a remarkable personal season with an appearance at HQ.

Fellow front-rower Christian Judge will make his last outing as Saracens player as will club legend David Strettle.

Director of rugby Mark McCall said: “We’re hugely grateful to the staff and entire playing group for their commitment throughout the campaign to get us in this position. Everyone has contributed hugely to get us to where we want to be.”

Form: Exeter Chiefs appear in their fourth successive Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final, only Leicester Tigers have appeared in more consecutive finals with nine in a row between 2005 and 2013. Exeter’s only victory in the Final was 23-20 over Wasps after extra time in 2017. The only team to have topped the league table after 22 rounds and then won the Final in the last six years was Saracens in 2016. The Chief’s record in XVs rugby at Twickenham is won one lost seven. Exeter have lost two of their last five Premiership Rugby encounters, at home to Wasps in round 19 and away to Saracens in round 21. Saracens are chasing a fifth Premiership Rugby title having won in three of the past four seasons. Saracens only defeat in their last six first team games was 29-31 at Worcester in round 22 of Gallagher Premiership Rugby. Saracens have won on their last seven visits to Twickenham Stadium, four London double-headers and three Premiership Rugby Finals, since their 20-24 defeat there to Northampton after extra time in the 2014 Final. Saracens have won just two of their last seven Premiership Rugby meetings with Exeter, last year’s Final and the round 21 victory at Allianz Park. The two clubs have met in three previous Finals – the Anglo-Welsh final at Franklin’s Gardens in 2015, plus two Gallagher Premiership Rugby Finals in 2016 and 2018, with Saracens winning them all.

The teams:

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Jack Nowell, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Nic White, 8 Matt Kvesic, 7 Don Armand, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Dave Dennis, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Ben Moon
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Sam Hill

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Richard Barrington
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Ralph Adams-Hale, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Mike Rhodes, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 David Strettle

Date: Saturday, June 1
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley, Tom Foley
TMO: Graham Hughes

Exeter Chiefs