It seems at the moment as if we are reaching saturation point with the amount of knockout rugby that we have had of late on these shores. This coming weekend is no exception as we look forward to the finals of the Aviva Premiership and RaboDirect Pro 12 as well as the Barbarians game against England.
The last three weeks have seen the crucial final round of the league stages as well as the semi finals of the Aviva Premiership and RaboDirect Pro12, the Amlin Challenge Cup final and the Heineken Cup final.
In addition, the final two rounds of the HSBS World Sevens Series took place here in the UK. The second last round taking place in Glasgow and the final round in London. It was close at the top of the table between Fiji and New Zealand going into these last two rounds. A third place finish in London was sufficient for New Zealand to be crowned sevens champions.
Congratulations are well overdue to Biarritz and Leinster who won the Amlin Challenge and Heineken Cups respectively. Thanks a lot also to our fellow bloggers who kept us up to date with the score during the Heineken Cup Final.
Last Friday night’s Amlin Challenge Cup Final between Biarritz and Toulon turned out to be a battle of the boot with not a single try scored, so much for French flair. In the end Dimitri Yachvili’s boot outscored Jonny Wilkinson’s to propel Biarritz to a 21-18 win.
Leinster were well deserved winners of the Heineken Cup Final on Saturday night. There may have only been ten points in it with twenty minutes remaining, but in the end a resounding 42-14 victory followed for Leinster. The winners scored four tries and only conceded one.
Enough of the past, back to the future to this weekend’s big games.
Aviva Premiership Final
This final will be contested between London club Harlequins and Leicester at Twickenham on Saturday, 26 May 2012, kick off 16:00 SA time.
Harlequins will be looking to win their first Premiership title and will be led out by England captain and player of the year Rob Earnshaw. His counterpart will be leading Leicester out for a record eighth successive final. Leicester can also boast to be the most successful team in the history of the English game, having been crowned champions nine times since the introduction of the league format in rugby union in England back in 1987.
The match promises to be a close affair with table topping Harlequins ending the league stage of the season a mere one point ahead of second placed Leicester.
RaboDirect Pro12 Final
This final will be contested between Irish club Leinster and Welsh club The Ospreys at the RDS in Dublin on Sunday, 27 May 2012, kick off 17:00 SA time.
Leinster’s host of star players from last weekend all seem fit at the moment. There is still a doubt over replacement scrumhalf Isaac Boss, who was a late withdrawal from the Heineken Cup final.
Leinster ended the league stage of the season comfortably on top of the table, ten points ahead of the Ospreys who ended in second place. However this could also be a close game when one looks at most recent form. Both teams have comprehensively dismissed their opponents in their most recent knockout games, with Ospreys outscoring Munster by five tries to one in their resounding semi final victory against Munster.