Chiefs aiming for back-to-back titles against Quins

Reining champions Exeter Chiefs face Harlequins in the Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham on Saturday.

Exeter, who defeated Wasps in last year’s final, could be crowned back-to-back champions for the first time in their history.

Rob Baxter’s side secured their final place in impressive fashion last weekend, as they overcame Sale Sharks, 40-30, at Sandy Park.

A semi-final double for Jack Nowell’s on his return from injury helped Chiefs reach a sixth successive final.

Underdogs Harlequins will be hoping to prevent Devon’s finest from writing any history, as they themselves have hopes of lifting what would be their second title.

Quins reached Twickenham in dramatic style last Saturday when they defeated table toppers Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate, in a match many have called the greatest game in Premiership history.

Harlequins looked dead and buried at 28-0 down inside half an hour, however, a remarkable second half comeback saw the match end 31-all before Harlequins completed the fightback in extra-time to win 43-36.

Billy Millard’s side, who are competing in their first final since being crowned champions in 11/12, could become the the first team since Saracens (14/15) to lift the trophy having finished fourth in the table.

Team news:

Chiefs have named an unchanged side for the final.

All three of their Lions forwards start: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jonny Hill and Sam Simmonds, whilst Stuart Hogg is named as a substitute.

Alex Cuthbert starts on the wing for Exeter in what will be his final appearance for the club. The Welsh international, who scored in last week’s semi-final, has signed a one-year contract with Ospreys.

Harlequins have made three changes to their semi-final side.

Their only forward change sees James Chisholm replace Jack Kenningam in the back row, whilst rotation in the backs sees Aaron Morris replaced by Cadan Murley and Andre Esterhuizen starts ahead of Ben Tapuai in the midfield.

Three Quins players who were part of the clubs last title winning side are in the squad. Danny Care and Joe Marler start, whilst Will Collier- who was an unused substitute- has been named on the bench.

Battle of the fly-half’s:

One player match up to keep an eye on will be: Marcus Smith (Harlequins) vs Joe Simmonds (Exeter).

The Quins kicker looks likely to win the Golden Boot for the first time in his career after an impressive season from the tee. His total of 238-points is 60-points more than AJ MacGinty in second, and 82-points more than Simmonds in fourth.

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Smith’s kicking success sees him sit high in the charts with 56 of his 68 attempts (82.4%) whilst Simmonds has scored 43 of his 53 kicks (76.5%).

Although, it isn’t just from the tee both pose danger. Simmonds’ perfectly executed kick over the top to set up Nowell’s second try in the semi-final last week, is a perfect example of why Quins need to be weary of him with ball in hands.

Likewise, Smith is always a threat in the Quins midfield as Bristol found out last week. The No.10 set up three tries including Joe Marchant’s match winning try at the death.

Head-to-head:

Despite the 11-points between the sides at the end of the regular season, Chiefs (2) and Quins (4) finished the season strongly.

Exeter, who are the most in-form team over the last 15-league games, are unbeaten in their last eight Premiership matches, whilst Harlequins have only lost twice in their last eight outings.

Chiefs had the upper hand in both the league meetings, as they claimed victory twice in two completely different matches.

The meeting at the Stoop on the opening day of the season saw Chiefs run riot in the capital as they scored five tries without reply to win 33-3.

The second contest in Devon saw Harlequins defeated only by a point after a late converted Dave Ewers try gave Exeter a 21-20 victory. Quins led 20-7 on the hour, however, two tries in the final 20 minutes turned the game around.

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Usually when these two sides meet, a high scoring match is the outcome- 31-tries have been shared in the last five fixtures.

Reduced capacity:

10,000 supporters will be in attendance at Twickenham at a reduced capacity, after the final was not given special status due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The ticket allocation has been shared between the two clubs, frontline workers and the families of players.

20,000 fans were due to attend the match, however, after the decision to delay the easing of restrictions, the permitted capacity was halved to the disappointment of many supporters who had their tickets cancelled.

Chiefs winger, Jack Nowell has criticised the decision which to him, just doesn’t make sense.

He said: “From players’ point of view and the teams’ point of view, we are gutted we can’t have a lot more people watching it.

“Wembley had 19,000 (for Euro 2020 games) and they are going to 60,000 next week. There is no reason why we can’t have more in there.”

Exeter Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, also shared his disappointment at the low capacity.

“It is fantastic there are some supporters there, it is a very positive step forward, ” he said.

“I don’t think anyone involved in rugby isn’t shaking their head when they see the crowd numbers, it seems very odd. Why rugby has been singled out, I don’t know.”

For the rugby world tomorrow, an entertaining final game of the Premiership season is instore.

At the end of 80-minutes, either Exeter Chiefs will be celebrating back-to-back titles, or Harlequins will be crowned Premiership champions for a second time.