Saracens and Sale Sharks face off in Gallagher Premiership Final

The Gallagher Premiership trophy is on the line at Twickenham on Saturday as Sale Sharks take on five-time champions Saracens.

Saturday’s 3pm kick-off is set to be final to remember with the regular season’s top two going head-to-head at English rugby’s HQ.

Sale are looking for second title after previously winning in 2006, while Sarries are looking for their 6th title and first since 2019.

The London based side booked their place at the showpiece final thanks to a 38-15 semi-final victory over 4th placed Northampton Saints at the StoneX Stadium.

Mark McCall’s men raced into a 21-3 half-time lead before finishing off the Saints late on, with a penalty try and a Max Malins effort in the corner.

Sale on the other hand had a much harder time of it up north.

Alex Sanderson’s men beat defending champions Leicester Tigers 21-13 at the AJ Bell Stadium to set up Saturday’s final with Saracens.

The semi-final was in the balance at the break with just one point separating the sides, but a Arron Reed try combined with superb kicking by George Ford secured Sale’s place at Twickenham.

Saturday will be 17 years to the day the Manchester based side last lifted the trophy, triumphing over Leicester Tigers.

This new batch of players such as Tom Curry, Tom Roebuck and Joe Carpenter are looking to emulate the stars of 2006.

Director of Rugby, Sanderson will also be looking to get another result over his form side.

The 43-year-old spent 13 years at the London club and had struggled to get a result over Sarries since making the move north, but last time these sides faced, Sale came out 35-24 victors.

Sanderson said: “It adds a little bit more spice to it.”

McCall’s men won the previous three encounters between the teams and will be looking for a revenge at Twickenham this weekend.

Sanderson has tried many techniques this season to help his squad be a force to be reckoned with and before this weekend’s final he even brought managerial great, Sir Alex Ferguson into to talk to his squad.

He will be hoping the Scotsman’s words will help his side on Saturday.

Sanderson is already proud of what his group of players have achived this season before a ball has been kicked on Saturday.

He said: “I know there’s one more to go, but to have made the final, some special group out there.”

“The north is here and it’s a Newcastle, but right now, like we are flying the flag, so they’re super proud for that.”

Sanderson is a northern lad himself having played for Sale from 1998 to 2006 and the pride he has to be leading this northern team is clear to see.

“I can’t talk too much about it because I start to cry and get too emotional,” he said.

“So I’ve been parking that and focusing on process.

“But to come home to this team, the team that I played for, the team that I captained, the team that my brother played for, the team my dad played against.

“It’s a bit of a dream, isn’t it?

“I have to remind myself that dreams don’t come true.

“Generally fairy tales don’t come true.”

Him, his players and Sale fans will be hoping this fairy tale does come true when they face Saracens on Saturday looking to end their 17 year wait for the trophy.

One major head-to-head going into this mammoth match is the battle at fly-half between Owen Farrell and George Ford.

The pair are both England internationals and have played together internationally for years, but their friendship started well before then back in their school days.

Ford and Farrell went to St George’s School in Hertfordshire where they grew up learning their rugby trade alongside each other.

But on Saturday the friends will turn to foes and many outsiders believe their individual battle will be key to the outcome of the final, but Ford doesn’t share the same opinion.

He said: “The influence he has on that team is great.

“But he’s just one cog of that team.

“I’m only a part of this team, one part of this team.

“And I think the championship winning teams are not about any individual.

“It’s about the collective on the field.”

There are many standout battles across the park to keep an eye on at Twickenham on Saturday including at second-row where England Internationals, Maro Itoje and Jonny Hill will go up against each other.

Both side’s number eights are set for an emotional day as they play their last match before retirement.

Jono Ross will captain his side following Ben Curry’s hamstring injury in the semi-final victory over Leicester Tigers, while Jackson Wray will be looking to end his career with his fifth Premiership title.

Neither coaches have made many changes ahead of the final with Sanderson only making one enforced change with Sam Dugdale coming into the back row for the injured Ben Curry.

This also means Tom Ellis is in line to play the side he played for earlier in the season when he comes of the bench later in the game.

McCall makes one surprising change to his side from the semi-final with England International Mako Vunipola dropping to the bench in place of Eroni Mawi.

The only other change to Sarries 23 is on the bench where Aled Davies returns to take American Ruben De Haas’ place.

Lineups:

Sale Sharks: 15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Arron Reed, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Simon McIntyre, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Nick Schonert, 4. Jean-Luc du Preez, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Tom Curry, 7. Sam Dugdale, 8. Jono Ross ©

Replacements: 16. Ewan Ashman, 17. Bevan Rodd, 18. Coenie Oosthuizen, 19. Josh Beaumont, 20. Tom Ellis, 21. Raffi Quirke, 22. Sam James, 23. Tom O’Flaherty

Replacements: 16. Tommy Taylor 17. Simon McIntyre 18. Nick Schonert 19. Alex Groves 20. Josh Beaumont 21. Raffi Quirke 22. Luke James 23. Arron Reed

Saracens: 1. Eroni Mawi 2. Jamie George 3. Marco Riccioni 4. Maro Itoje 5. Hugh Tizard 6. Nick Isiekwe 7. Ben Earl 8. Jackson Wray 9. Ivan Van Zyl 10. Owen Farrell © 11. Sean Maitland 12. Nick Tompkins 13. Alex Lozowski 14. Max Malins 15. Alex Goode

Replacements: 16. Theo Dan 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Christian Judge 19. Callum Hunter-Hill 20. Toby Knight 21. Aled Davies 22. Duncan Taylor 23. Elliot Daly

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