Premiership Final Team News: Youngs on the bench, double ton up for Vunipola
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The lineups for the Gallagher Premiership final between Leicester Tigers and Saracens have been named.
- Genge captains Tigers, Ford's final match
- Farrell captains Saracens, double ton up for Vunipola
Twickenham Stadium, 3pm - Live on BT Sport and ITV4
WHO IS IN CHARGE
Referee: Wayne Barnes (259th Premiership game, 10th final).
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce & Christophe Ridley. TMO: Tom Foley.
Citing Officer: Chris Catling.
LEICESTER TIGERS TEAM NEWS
Steve Borthwick's side includes just five players with previous Premiership Final experience, with the trio of Dan Cole, George Ford and Ben Youngs the only members from the club’s last outing in a decider nine seasons ago.
Ellis Genge leads the team at loosehead prop alongside Julián Montoya and Cole in the starting front row. Charlie Clare, Nephi Leatigaga and Joe Heyes are the front-row replacements on the Leicester bench.
Ollie Chessum and Calum Green are partnered in the second row, with vice-captain Hanro Liebenberg, Tommy Reffell and Jasper Wiese making up the starting back row. Harry Wells and George Martin are included among the replacements.
Richard Wigglesworth and Ford are the starting half-backs, while Guy Porter and Matías Moroni are the midfield pairing. Freddie Steward is the starting full-back, with Harry Potter and Chris Ashton the wings in the back-three.
Youngs, Freddie Burns and Matt Scott are the backs among the Tigers replacements.
SARACENS TEAM NEWS
The Men in Black are back in the showpiece event at the first time of asking after their return to the top flight, and could add a sixth Premiership title to their trophy cabinet.
Director of Rugby Mark McCall has made one change to the starting line-up from the side that beat Harlequins last weekend in the semi-final, with Nick Isiekwe returning to the second-row after his phenomenal impact from the bench.
Mako Vunipola will lead the team out at HQ for his 200th appearance for Sarries, whilst Andy Christie could reach his half century of appearances from the bench in two landmark games for two crucial players. Vunipola, Jamie George and Vincent Koch start in the tried-and-tested front-row, with Isiekwe alongside Maro Itoje in the engine room.
Theo McFarland, Ben Earl and Billy Vunipola will operate in the back-row after their relentless display in the last four. Aled Davies, who scored a great try against Quins keeps his place at nine, with the skipper managing the game alongside him at fly-half.
The in-form midfield pairing of Nick Tompkins and Elliot Daly will be looking for more of the same at HQ, with the back-three of Sean Maitland, Max Malins and Alex Goode once again looking to take any opportunities that come their way.
On the bench Jackson Wray returns and he will be aiming to win his fifth Premiership title, with plenty of big-game experience as well in the form of Duncan Taylor and Alex Lozowski.
WHAT THEY SAID
“It is an exciting day for everyone involved with Leicester Tigers.”
“The players have worked exceptionally hard all season to consistently improve and compete every week.
“We talk before every game about putting a performance that our supporters, our families and our friends will be proud of and that is the same ahead of Saturday’s game.
“It is an exciting team to go out and represent Leicester Tigers at Twickenham and we will need an 80-minute performance in each position against an experienced side like Saracens, who have world-class players throughout their squad.” - Tigers Head Coach Steve Borthwick.
“We’ve got an opportunity to do something special and we’re really looking forward to it.
We’re up against a fantastic side who we respect, so we have had to make sure our preparation has been right.
The past is the past and we want to make sure that all of the exciting stuff is in front of us.” - Saracens captain Owen Farrell
THE LINE-UPS
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OPTA STATS
●This will be the third time that Leicester Tigers and Saracens have met in a Premiership final, having also played each other in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 finals, with the record currently standing at one win apiece; both ties were decided by fewer than seven points.
● This will be Leicester Tigers’ 10th appearance in a Premiership final, the most of any team; however, it will be their first final in nine years, with their previous nine appearances coming in consecutive years between 2005 and 2013 (W4, L5); they have won three of their last five appearances in the final, including their most recent (37-17 v Northampton Saints in May 2013).
● This will be Saracens’ 8th appearance in a Premiership final, only Leicester Tigers (10, incl. this season) have reached more; Sarries have won five of their previous seven finals, no other club has won the showpiece event as often.
● Saracens have won nine of their last 11 games against Leicester in the Premiership (L2), however the two sides were evenly split this season, winning one game apiece in the regular season, with both fixtures being decided by seven points or fewer.
● Leicester Tigers have won six of their last seven Premiership matches (L1), including each of their last four in a row, while Saracens have won eight of their last nine league fixtures (L1), averaging exactly four tries per game during that run.
● Leicester Tigers have averaged the most kicks from hand per game in the Premiership this season (35) and the most kicking meters (1099), enjoying the most territory of any club as a result (54%); Saracens rank third for kicks (29) and second for kicking metres (850).
● No team has averaged as many 22 entries per game as Leicester Tigers in this season’s Premiership (10.9); however, no side has scored more points per 22 entry than Saracens this term (2.7); Leicester (1.8) and Saracens (2.0) have conceded the fewest points per entry too.
● Saracens have averaged 151 tackles per game in the Premiership this season, more than any other team, also averaging the third most dominant tackles (6.0); meanwhile, Leicester have averaged the joint most turnover-winning tackles this campaign (3.1 also Sale).
● Leicester Tigers’ George Ford is the top point scorer in the Premiership this season (220), having kicked the most penalty goals of any player (42); Saracens’ Owen Farrell has the best goal-kicking success rate of any player to attempt more than 10 kicks at goal (84%) – the average goal kicker would have been expected to slot just 75% based on the difficulty of those kicks.
● Saracens’ Max Malins leads the try-scoring charts in this season’s Premiership (16), while his teammates Ben Earl (11) and Tom Woolstencroft (10) are also in double digits for tries scored this term; Earl has also completed more tackles than any other player this term (347).
