1
Opposing England flyhalves George Ford and Owen Farrell hailed
George Ford and Owen Farrell have been described as players “relentless in their pursuit of excellence” ahead of taking centre-stage in Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership final.
ADVERTISEMENT
Leicester fly-half Ford and Saracens’ tactical controller Farrell unquestionably hold the keys to victory for their teams.
Tigers, chasing a ninth Premiership title in their first domestic showpiece final since 2013, were never replaced as regular-season league leaders across 24 games.
Saracens, meanwhile, are back on the big stage following their relegation to the Championship and £5.36million fine two years ago for repeated salary cap breaches.
“There are huge similarities between the two of them,” Leicester head coach and former Saracens captain Steve Borthwick said.
“They love rugby, they are relentless in their pursuit of excellence, the amount of training they would do, how driven they are to win.
“George is an incredible tactical leader and very astute in terms of what the team needs. He is a guy who wants to get better, and it is a privilege to work with him.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Borthwick has handed a surprise Twickenham start to 39-year-old Richard Wigglesworth, who is handed the role of Ford’s half-back partner, with Ben Youngs on the bench.
Wigglesworth helped Saracens win European and Premiership crowns during his 10 years with the club before joining Leicester ahead of Borthwick’s first season at the helm.
Chris Ashton, the Premiership’s record try-scorer, also features for Leicester, with Guy Porter moving from wing to centre as replacement for an injured Dan Kelly.
Saracens show one change from the side that beat semi-final opponents Harlequins, as lock Nick Isiekwe takes over from Tim Swinson.
ADVERTISEMENT
Leicester have risen from successive 11th-place Premiership finishes before Borthwick took charge to contest their 10th final.
“I am excited about this team, the journey we are on, and it is another step for us,” Borthwick added.
“It is a really experienced Saracens team, their squad is packed full of international experience, so we know it is an incredible challenge.
“But that is the nature of games like this. You have got to be at your best.”
Reflecting on his Leicester reign, Borthwick said: “The first game we played was Exeter away (in August 2020), and we lost 26-13.
“About 20 minutes into the match, we were 6-0 up, then Exeter scored two or three tries quickly, and I thought ‘we are going to be tested here’.
“A team like Exeter can turn that into 50 points, because they are that good, but I saw our guys fight really hard, and I thought if I’ve got that, then I have got something to work with.”
Trying to outwit Borthwick on the tactical front will be Saracens’ long-serving rugby director Mark McCall, and a fascinating battle lies ahead.
Saracens’ England prop Mako Vunipola said: “His (McCall’s) ability to see the bigger picture is second to none, and his biggest strength.
“It is his ability to see that something we need to fix in September or October, otherwise it will come and bite us when we get to March or April.
“The direction he has given to us and for us as senior players, the openness he shares with us, is amazing.
“We take for granted as senior players the ability to talk to him, and for him to listen to some of our opinions.
“There are not many coaches that have the patience to deal with the number of personalities we have in the team.”
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
31 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to comments