FINAL: PREVIEW, THOUGHTS AND MATCH COMMENTS

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:07:16:20:04:28 by Darraghgirl.

Officials for the game
Referee: Wayne Barnes

Assistant referees: Luke Pearce & Christophe Ridley

TMO: Tom Foley

Time Keeper: Eric Bullion

Citing Commissioner: Chris Catling‌

Possibly the best group of officials we could ask for

+1

First time we have had Wayne all season I think, how likely is that?

Quiet day for the TMO then.

Does that mean we can hit people in the head as long as we fall backwards on one side of the pitch only this week?!!

Just needed to make some corrections

Officials for the game

Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Owen Farrell & Ben Youngs
TMO: ITV Sport programme editor
Time Keeper: Eric Bullion
Citing Commissioner: Come All Within forum

Quality.....

Quote:

Chops3
Just needed to make some corrections
Officials for the game

Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Owen Farrell & Ben Youngs
TMO: ITV Sport programme editor
Time Keeper: Eric Bullion
Citing Commissioner: Come All Within forum

23 citings incoming then lol ... Don't get the timekeeper ref...

Ninjafez - supporting Sarries and cleaning their signs since 2006!

In light of our previous two encounters with Tigers at Twickenham this game should be billed ‘Rucky III’?

Are we in Red?

Black, confirmed by the club this morning.

Quote:

LutonS
Black, confirmed by the club this morning.

Black - Hot day - Slightly rotund middle aged man

Great

here we go!!!

Saracens Men:

1 Mako Vunipola

2 Jamie George

3 Vincent Koch

4 Maro Itoje

5 Nick Isiekwe

6 Theo McFarland

7 Ben Earl

8 Billy Vunipola

9 Aled Davies

10 Owen Farrell (c)

11 Sean Maitland

12 Nick Tompkins

13 Elliot Daly

14 Max Malins

15 Alex Goode

Replacements:

16 Kapeli Pifeleti

17 Eroni Mawi

18 Alec Clarey

19 Jackson Wray

20 Andy Christie

21 Ivan van Zyl

22 Duncan Taylor

23 Alex Lozowski

[www.saracens.com]

Ninjafez - supporting Sarries and cleaning their signs since 2006!

Tigers, ashy and wiggy are playing...

15 Freddie Steward [55]
14 Chris Ashton [11]
13 Matías Moroni [35]
12 Guy Porter [44]
11 Harry Potter [40]
10 George Ford [128]
9 Richard Wigglesworth [36]
1 Ellis Genge (c) [110]
2 Julián Montoya [26]
3 Dan Cole [289]
4 Ollie Chessum [30]
5 Calum Green [90]
6 Hanro Liebenberg (vc) [58]
7 Tommy Reffell [77]
8 Jasper Wiese [44]

REPLACEMENTS
16 Charlie Clare [51]
17 Nephi Leatigaga [67]
18 Joe Heyes [100]
19 Harry Wells [155]
20 George Martin [38]
21 Ben Youngs [281]
22 Freddie Burns [102]
23 Matt Scott [46]

Ninjafez - supporting Sarries and cleaning their signs since 2006!

Quote:

RobB

Quote:

LutonS
Black, confirmed by the club this morning.

Black - Hot day - Slightly rotund middle aged man

Great

my son will be choosing for me tomorrow

Ninjafez - supporting Sarries and cleaning their signs since 2006!

Only short sleeve shirt I can find is the black Man Investments one, which is not made for hot days on a portly old git figure. Husband will be wearing an ordinary polo methinks. East Stand too - glad I'm not going ........ Hot, hot, hot and that's before the raised blood pressure whilst watching!

Is Swinson injured? I feel nervous without a lock on the bench, a big 80 mins from Maro and Isiekwe required.

Quote:

TommyKentish
Is Swinson injured? I feel nervous without a lock on the bench, a big 80 mins from Maro and Isiekwe required.

It is a risk but mitigated by having 3 on the pitch to start.

Quote:

Garp285

Quote:

TommyKentish
Is Swinson injured? I feel nervous without a lock on the bench, a big 80 mins from Maro and Isiekwe required.

It is a risk but mitigated by having 3 on the pitch to start.

In Mark McCall we trust.

Great photo for the piece although I hope Borthwick holding the Silverware isn't prophetic!

Two very good teams. The thing that really strikes me about Sarries choices are that we've had great continuity of selection over the past month plus. McCall backing the selections he's made in that period with the exception of Isiekwe coming into the XV and Swinson out of the 23 both good calls for me.

In terms of the Tigers squad there is less continuity and a few supporters seem to have questions about some selections though surely Borthwick has shown he can pick the right team for the game. Not surprised to see Wiggle picked as experience is something that the Tigers team for all it's other considerable assets is short on. He also still probably has the best scrum-half kicking game in the Prem on his day. It still looks like a very good team to me.
Previously I'd have said the scrum is the area where they may have an advantage but I really can't work out from their game against Saints if that was an off day or Saints had their number to a degree? Likewise we generally held up against Quins but they were probably on top over all. Get parity or deny Tigers scrum penalties and it's going to be hard for them to get their game going.

Looking at the XVs I certainly think we can get after their lineout (as Saints also did) after that it feels like it could well be about who manages the game best, if that isn't too obvious an observation.

The same excellent Captaincy and on-field discipline as last weeks (minus the high tackles obv!) and don't give Barnes any chance to take the result out of our hands.

Good luck to both teams. It's a great achievement for both teams to be in this position given their last two seasons. Head says that we should win, heart says we will win and yet ...

In the meantime COYS

Yeah, Wiggys ability to let the ball do the work will be pretty handy if it's as hot as forecast. Care was all over Aled last week, that was the main discomfort, I can't see we would allow that again this week

Interesting that Al Hargreaves on a podcast thinks that Sarries might try and "play a bit" and it could be a question of if Tigers can hold them out.

I agree with Al Hargreaves that I think we will try and pass the ball more than Leicester and thus ‘play a bit’ but to be effective in that strategy we will definitely have to match Leicester up front in intensity.
I am expecting it to be a titanic battle between the two top teams in England but have firmly believed from about November time that the gun Sarries team would be Premiership champions. We are fortunate that we have not been badly impacted by injuries either last or this week and so whilst not counting chickens I am quietly confident and excited about tomorrow.

I just hope we come out and play or game. We saw last week what happens when a team focus too much on the opposition.

I have a feeling Calum Green Is going to try to ruffle a few feathers to get a reaction and some yellow cards. Having watched him in a few games he seems to do this regularly. Sarries just need to keep their cool if it gets a bit feisty. That said we seem to score more points when we don’t have a full contingent on the field😂

COME ON YOU TIGERRRrrrrrssssssss
morning, hope you all enjoy the day................................but not too much.............................

Good luck Tigerburnie. I hope you enjoy the game.

I'm feeling very confident of the team this morning. It feels like McCall has them peaking at just the right time, we've no major absences and the experience of doing it before. I also think there's a greater depth to our game (at this stage in the two clubs evolution) than Tigers.
I'm going for a 10+ point win on the basis that we get scrum parity and no cards. "Just" a win if we don't! That's not at all to disrespect what is an excellent Tigers team I just think they're right at the beginning of a transformation that we're someway through. If the result is different it then fair play to them.

Safe journeys to all supporters, don't forget to "hydrate" in this heat and hopefully we Sarries have cause for celebration come the games end

Phil Morrow and his team look to have done a superb job with the players' levels of fitness.

I don't see Leicester staying with Saracens over the last 20 minutes. Twickenham is a big ground with plenty of space to miss tackles...

~ You never knowingly let the facts get in the way of the story. ~

Tigers fitness is second to none, my only concern is we sometimes seem to start slowly, don't want to be chasing the game in the second half.

Very good penalty move for the second Tigers try.

If we'd kept 15 on the pitch...

There are gaps in that Leicester defence.

Still think the Saracens blitz from around 55-60 minutes will cause Leicester trouble, providing that no more cards are issued to Saracens players!

~ You never knowingly let the facts get in the way of the story. ~

Barnes bottled that, should have been a red, happy so far.

55 minutes; that surge has to start now...

~ You never knowingly let the facts get in the way of the story. ~

Your lads are creaking at the seams, Tigerburnie...

~ You never knowingly let the facts get in the way of the story. ~

Decent set that. No complaints.

~ You never knowingly let the facts get in the way of the story. ~

Well played Leicester. Wouldn't have put money on you if it had gone into extra time, mind, even if you had 15 on the pitch!

~ You never knowingly let the facts get in the way of the story. ~

Ooof. Congrats Tigers. Better team on the day. Billy was immense MotM for either side. Wiggle exceptional for Tigers and fully vindicated Borthwicks selection.

Lost by the lack of ambition from the coaches. Only started trying to keep the ball in hand with ten minutes to go. Hopefully that's fuel for the seasons to come.

Blummin awesome game. Well worthy of a final. Thank you, both sides.

Did not deserve that in the end,

Can't think if we have ever had a worst first 40mins individual performance in a final than Aled Davies first half, shame since the opposite 9 was exactly the type of player we needed...

congratulations Leicester. Thought freddie Stewart had a amazing match!

Disappointed .

But we played into Leicester hands with kick and chase and then we loose the ball. Time and time again.

When we play rugby we are a brilliant side but kick and chase is lottery.

We could have won but we chose to hand back the ball every time.

Cheers guys, took two sides to make a great match, knew it would be close, just wasn't telling you lot.
Well played Sarries(except for your 9 trying to cripple Ford)

Disappointed .

But we played into Leicester hands with kick and chase and then we loose the ball. Time and time again.

When we play rugby we are a brilliant side but kick and chase is lottery.

We could have won but we chose to hand back the ball every time.

Also want to point out I can't remember the last time a team beat us with there kicking game which is massive credit to tigers!

Think the tactics in the last 15mins was all wrong and we seemed to run out of ideas. Oh well, onto next year!

Quote:

trummy200
Little Cheaters vs BIG CHEATERS - its a title you will live with for years despite the BT love nest

Newark ( it’s an anagram ) of the day award to you. Well done you, mum must be pleased you put your crayons down to post this.

Quote:

Marlovian
"So This is it. The final stop on our road to redemption..."
Really? Redemption from serial cheating for 10 years?

10 years now? Yawn.

Quote:

Nosher1979

Quote:

Marlovian
"So This is it. The final stop on our road to redemption..."
Really? Redemption from serial cheating for 10 years?

10 years now? Yawn.

Inflation



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:06:18:18:59:34 by Dave Berko.

B***er, on to next season, look forwards to seeing you all at StoneX

Ninjafez - supporting Sarries and cleaning their signs since 2006!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:06:18:19:01:47 by ninjafez.

Dont know who thought that was an awesome game, one of the most boring I’ve been to ( and would have felt the same if we won sadly). Most times anyone around me got excited was when we won a penalty or scrum in our 22, where we seemed to spend a long time, move out of and then kick away possession. Heard Maro talking before match about this being a national event, not played like this it wont ever be. Why with 5 mins or so to go and Tigers one man down didnt they go to the corner and try to get a try? Rest of the game they never looked like scoring one. Very depressing afternoon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:06:18:20:02:26 by maynas.

Scrum was the call. We'd been solid all afternoon and they were a back down. Disappointing day. We lacked ambition. Well played Tigers; out Saracened us.

Quote:

maynas
Dont know who thought that was an awesome game, one of the most boring I’ve been to ( and would have felt the same if we won sadly). Most times anyone around me got excited was when we won a penalty or scrum in our 22, where we seemed to spend a long time, move out of and then kick away possession. Heard Maro talking before match about this being a national event, not played like this it wont ever be. Why with 5 mins or so to go and Tigers one man down didnt they go to the corner and try to get a try? Rest of the game they never looked like scoring one. Very depressing afternoon

Two sides who have played to a similar game plan all season and you expect a game of basketball? Really?
A good old fashioned battle of attrition, no quarter asked for or given, close and could have gone either way in the last 10 minutes or so, plenty of neutrals on their own boards reckon both sides played in a great final.

In another place I described that game as a dismally poor spectacle. I stand by every word of that.

Was always going to be a cagey affair which suited Leicester more than us. They defended fantastically as did we at times.
Billy was absolutely outstanding for us but the back line in general will be very frustrated looking back at that.
Fair play to Leicester who thoroughly deserved it on the day

Disappointed yes, but can't complain. Game could've gone either way. There were a few times I thought Tigers would kill it off but defense was heroic. Ultimately better team on the day won. Best 2 teams in the league and it was close.

Personally I was calling for a scrum rather than the points at the end would have meant they had to score a try. Completely see why we kicked it though, it was a huge call either way.

Anyway Congrats to Tigers on this day they deserved it.

Just a thought but isnt that the first match this season we havent scored a try? What a time to break that record

It was amazing to see our own tactics deployed against us!!! But fair play to Tigers and congrats on the win and well deserved. Had a feeling Borthwick would come back and haunt us, credit due for turning that team around.
I was behind the posts and did Wayne Barnes get in the way and the play was halted. Or was it because of a player down and potential HIA.

What a performance from Billy.

Overall we didn’t play well but with 4 minutes to go we must have been favourites. That speaks volumes.

We were beaten by an incredible defence we didn’t breach and which forced 2 mistakes out of us they converted to tries.

And they had Richard Wrigglesworth. My goodness that was a master class in kicking.

Now will someone please explain again to me why it’s a good idea to kick long balls repeatedly down the middle?

Can’t wait for next season though (especially if we cut out those long kicks)

Bit surprising to see a post match comment from Jamie saying ‘a few of our big names didn’t turn up’
I’d say Maro was far quieter than I’ve seen him in a big game and the kicking from everyone was very poor.
Our scrum did pretty well and probably won more penalties than we conceded.

Tight game for certain between the two teams who finished top of the table and who deserved to be there. That being said, I just wonder what sort of spectacle Quins v Saints might have delivered....a lot more points, that's for sure..............

Your team, you fans were consummate class at Twickenham yesterday.
It is fitting that to call ourselves the best we had to beat the best.

And surely the greatest tribute to Saracens is that we had to adopt the principles of your standard strategy to do it.

Everyone moaning that is was a boring low turgid game can eat a choad, both teams can run and throw when playing inferior teams, but we had to keep the doors locked and guarded against each other yesterday.

Both our clubs have been recently humbled after historical arrogance , misdeeds or whatever. Let rivalry define our relationship from now on, not rancour.

Next season we go again. Rest up Sarries.

Quote:

Purebob
Your team, you fans were consummate class at Twickenham yesterday.
It is fitting that to call ourselves the best we had to beat the best.

And surely the greatest tribute to Saracens is that we had to adopt the principles of your standard strategy to do it.

Everyone moaning that is was a boring low turgid game can eat a choad, both teams can run and throw when playing inferior teams, but we had to keep the doors locked and guarded against each other yesterday.

Both our clubs have been recently humbled after historical arrogance , misdeeds or whatever. Let rivalry define our relationship from now on, not rancour.

Next season we go again. Rest up Sarries.

Very classy post. Thanks!

Leicester deserved the win yesterday - they'd been top of the table all season and it was fitting they stayed there. We were simply not quite good enough on the day and although we were naturally a bit fed up about losing, we really didn't mind losing to Leicester. Congratulations to them - it is good to see Tigers back where they should be.... we saw our first ever Sarries game against Leicester at Vicarage Road many moons ago and they were the team to beat then and it seems right they have become a team to try to beat again.

Well done to Leicester, they thoroughly deserved the win. But that was a dreadful game and a really poor advert for the Premiership. I know that both teams have good defences but the constant kicking for territory is so dull. At least Leicester managed to take the opportunities they had and good luck to them but simply kicking the ball down Freddy Steward's throat all afternoon was pretty turgid tactics from Saracens. He is also exceptional under the high ball, a fact of which surely everyone is aware by now, and we rarely managed to put him under much pressure with the chase.

We actually looked good when we managed to retain some possession and go through the phases but it only happened about twice in the whole game - the first time Goode, I think, and not for the first time this season, frustratingly kicked the ball away and the second time Barnes managed to get himself in the way at the breakdown. All very frustrating especially after we had played so brilliantly in the semi final.

Oh well - very much looking forward to next season and I am hoping that a) we can unearth a better scrum half from somewhere and b) we manage to strike a better balance between strong defence and more attacking flair.

I doubt anyone at Twickenham thought it was a poor game, the look on the fans faces showed they seemed happy enough, well most of them up to the last 30 seconds anyway.
As an ex forward, I enjoy games like that, it's not always appropriate to try and play like a basketball team(some of you might not be old enough to remember the Harlem Globetrotters lol). Bristol failed last year doing that, rugby can and often is a game of different skills, a game of "stick it up the jumper" if you like. If you don't want to watch scrums, lineouts, rucks and mauls, go watch rugby league. As Cockerill said a while back, if you want entertainment, go to a theatre, rugby players play to win.

Lots near me thought it was not a great game. I did too. The mindless long kicks back and forwards should be penalised. With a box kick at leat you have a chance of getting the ball back if your chaser is good in the air, but long ones just hoping for a fumble at the other end? Boring and pointless. Sarries you are better than that why did you not run the ball occasionally?

Quote:

tigerburnie
I doubt anyone at Twickenham thought it was a poor game, the look on the fans faces showed they seemed happy enough, well most of them up to the last 30 seconds anyway.
As an ex forward, I enjoy games like that, it's not always appropriate to try and play like a basketball team(some of you might not be old enough to remember the Harlem Globetrotters lol). Bristol failed last year doing that, rugby can and often is a game of different skills, a game of "stick it up the jumper" if you like. If you don't want to watch scrums, lineouts, rucks and mauls, go watch rugby league. As Cockerill said a while back, if you want entertainment, go to a theatre, rugby players play to win.

So much to take issue with here it's hard to know where to start so I will keep it brief! No one is talking about "basketball", just pointing out that constant long aimless kicking makes for a dull spectacle. And given that we also lost, having never really looked like scoring a try, it was hugely disappointing that we didn't try try to adapt. I am also sure that most people there were happy, I was too, Twickenham for a big occasion is a good day out and if I were a Tigers fan (like the majority of the crowd seemed to be) then I would have been even happier! It doesn't mean that I can't take a step back and think critically about the tactics of both sides and the quality of the game it produced. As for the words you attribute to Richard Cockerill - I genuinely hope he didn't say anything as stupid as that particularly now he is part of the England set up.

I can’t remember lMaro ever having less influence on a big Sarries game. He wasn’t as poor as some of the press were suggesting, but he was certainly human rather the super-human we’ve been spoiled by for years.

Similar to some others on here and some I spoke to after the game, I felt it was a rather a dull match especially for the neutral.

Rather disappointed we seemed to make so many unforced errors on the day, turnovers, overthrown line-outs to name but two. Having said that Leicester were the better side on the day (and the season if you look at the table) and deserved the win.

Seems to have been a long season and I hope everyone has a nice rest over summer and comes back stronger next season.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:06:20:09:08:03 by LutonS.

Quote:

Purebob
Your team, you fans were consummate class at Twickenham yesterday.
It is fitting that to call ourselves the best we had to beat the best.

And surely the greatest tribute to Saracens is that we had to adopt the principles of your standard strategy to do it.

Everyone moaning that is was a boring low turgid game can eat a choad, both teams can run and throw when playing inferior teams, but we had to keep the doors locked and guarded against each other yesterday.

Both our clubs have been recently humbled after historical arrogance , misdeeds or whatever. Let rivalry define our relationship from now on, not rancour.

Next season we go again. Rest up Sarries.

Purebob, this is the post of the thread (so far!)
Having had a day to mull over the match I can understand the frustration of those who find relentless kicking dull especially if the chase is sub-standard but that belies that fact that our opponents were not only the form team of the Prem but loaded with insider knowledge. Have we ever played against so much Saracens know how in opposition?
Borths called it right by starting Wiggy (who was epic) and Ashy who was none to shabby either (can't believe he's never scored a try in a Prem final).
Setting out to "out Saracens" Saracens is probably the greatest compliment we could have been paid and it worked. We didn't score a try for perhaps the first time this season - would Rotimi have opened things up a bit and Andy Christie had us up for a moment too - who knows it's in the history books now.
I think if we asked ourselves honestly at the start of the season if we'd have taken a final appearance having finished second and lose that as narrowly as we did most of us would have answered in the affirmative.
I'm immensely proud of the whole group at Saracens and the many Tigers fans I spoke with on Saturday feel the same way as Purebob so thanks for expressing that because we do get a lot of @#$%& on social media which I expect to run and run whilst keyboard warrior mentality exists.
Rest well Saracens and we'll see you next season and thanks for a great comeback year.

My wife has told me that she's considering ending our marriage due to my utter obsession with rugby.

I'm begging her for one more try!

Quote:

Happy Sarrie
I think if we asked ourselves honestly at the start of the season if we'd have taken a final appearance having finished second and lose that as narrowly as we did most of us would have answered in the affirmative.
I'm immensely proud of the whole group at Saracens and the many Tigers fans I spoke with on Saturday feel the same way as Purebob so thanks for expressing that because we do get a lot of @#$%& on social media which I expect to run and run whilst keyboard warrior mentality exists.
Rest well Saracens and we'll see you next season and thanks for a great comeback year.[/quote


+1 - Also, after dominating the league so convincingly over 24 games, it would be a travesty if Leicester's name wasnt next to 2021/22 in the record books.