Preview of the Guinness Premiership final

Guinness Premiership, Leicester, London Irish, Whats On

It’s that time of year again where arguable the biggest game of the domestic English union season takes place - the final of the Guinness Premiership between Leicester Tigers and London Irish, taking place on that hallowed turf of Twickenham.

With Leicester having a good history over past years in reaching the final, winning it in 2001 and 2007 while winning the league from 1999-2002 and again in 2005, they are odds-on favourites to take the title again. People shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss London Irish though. As head coach Toby Booth said: “We need to make sure we’re still in the game, because we know we finish strongly. It’s a tough order, but we have a lot of self-belief here.” Maybe this shows that the strong form of Leicester, coupled with their ambition to win, could be overfacing the London side.

Indeed, Leicester are by no means a dead cert to win themselves. “… they have match-winners across the field. They are a good side and if we are not right we could get a nasty shock.” was the response of Richard Cockerill when asked about his team’s chances, putting the emphasis on the fact that even as favourites, talk is coming from some corners that the team may stumble at the final hurdle after a tiring season. Martin Castrogiovanni is out for Leicester, replace by vet Julian White, but other than that the side is looking to be strong as ever.

It is shaping up to be an interesting game on Saturday, with the perennial league-toppers of Leicester against the definite underdog of the London Irish, and who is to say who will walk away with the all-important win. One thing is for sure though, both teams will be playing to win and will be doing their damnedest to do it in style. Who knows - London Irish could well walk away as champions, quite possibly beginning their collection of trophies.

The game takes place this Saturday, 16th May at Twickenham, starts at 17:30.

Martyn @ May 15, 2009