Prem final. Spoiler alert.

[Shugs]

Deserved win for Tigers in an absorbing but poor quality final. Big arm wrestle broken up by endless kick tennis - is it what people want to watch? Tigers won’t care. Not sure how long Barnes can get away with being so poor - he was absolutely dreadful.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

Oh darn it. I missed it. 

[Chunky24]

Tigers absolutely deserved, totally out "finalled" Saracens which takes some doing.

Wasn't ready for Tom Youngs to appear at the end of the game though, real powerful and emotive moments.

[Wombles]

Tom Youngs lifting the cup was absolutely deserved...we take our other halves for granted too often, and although as a NHS medic in general practice (and 13 years in emergency medicine before) we deal with it every day, it will never prepare any of us for what he -and countless others- go through. I absolutely admire him and his family and what Tigers did today.

The final was how they can often be, tight, nervy affairs, a arm wrestle with mistakes aplenty and a moment to remember. But it really is great to see Tigers back winning only 12 months after bottom dwelling...it gives hope for us all. The darkest of the night simply means starting the journey to the brightest of day!

[Heathen]

Delighted for Tigers and their fans. As said, quality of the game not brilliant but finals are all about getting over the line in front of the opposition. And to do it in the manner as they did at the the end was priceless!

[JonnyD]

Glad Leicester won and they definitely bossed it in terms of game plan and tactics.

However, what a horrible advert for rugby here. Yes it was an arm wrestle and a great contest but a far cry from the arm wrestle that was the Blues Crusaders game. (How good is Mo’unga??)
I hate to think how many kicks came in play from both sides.

Yet again two head collisions which were instant reds earlier in the season, especially the first one. Refereeing of the scrum between the SH and the NH also needs to be brought closer together.

Wish there was a 3rd/4th play off match today so we could watch Quins vs Saints. Hoping the Baabaas can bring some flair to proceedings.

[FishingWasp]

+1
The 1st was surely a red-even looked deliberately leading with the shoulder and no mitigation. Maybe Faz has been coaching Aled? I got the feeling that the TMO thought it worse than Barns did, but acquiesced.
The 2nd appeared accidental, but probably a yellow due to the proximity of the try line.
 
A shame Ford was forced off early, and that Earl is allowed to get away with his continual screaming and OTT  celebrations
At least the kick fest has prepared us for Wimbledon!!
Well done Tigers

[Chunky24]

Glad Leicester won and they definitely bossed it in terms of game plan and tactics.

However, what a horrible advert for rugby here. Yes it was an arm wrestle and a great contest but a far cry from the arm wrestle that was the Blues Crusaders game. (How good is Mo’unga??)
I hate to think how many kicks came in play from both sides.

Yet again two head collisions which were instant reds earlier in the season, especially the first one. Refereeing of the scrum between the SH and the NH also needs to be brought closer together.

Wish there was a 3rd/4th play off match today so we could watch Quins vs Saints. Hoping the Baabaas can bring some flair to proceedings.

If you are able to find a re run of the Currie Cup semi final from yesterday that is worth a watch if you didn't seeit.

[Chunky24]

+1
The 1st was surely a red-even looked deliberately leading with the shoulder and no mitigation. Maybe Faz has been coaching Aled? I got the feeling that the TMO thought it worse than Barns did, but acquiesced.
The 2nd appeared accidental, but probably a yellow due to the proximity of the try line.
 
A shame Ford was forced off early, and that Earl is allowed to get away with his continual screaming and OTT  celebrations
At least the kick fest has prepared us for Wimbledon!!
Well done Tigers

Wonder if this non dominant head contact approach is the response to the often asked question of why doesn't the ball carrier always go for an HIA if the tackler is red carded for head contact, similar to a push in the face v a punch in the face situation.

[Covkid40]

Yesterday was never going to be anything but an arm wrestle, and we can all agree Quinn’s Northampton would have been a better final. Congratulations to Tigers they out Sarried Sarries👏👏👏. Whilst I don’t usually care who wins the final yesterday was a bit of anybody but Saracens please, at the end when the camera was panning around the Sarries players the commentators where praising their efforts and made a comment “ we know some of you will never forgive them for what they did and they know that too, but now they’re doing it right”!!! Are they? What did he want sympathy? We lost semi finals to a team who was cheating, Exeter lost finals to a team that was cheating, yet still some deny wrong doing and haven’t accepted responsibility and apologised. A large proportion of the people involved are still there, they took a second massive points hit to stop a full forensic audit so we really don’t know how bad it really was. I’ll forgive them in 5 years time when most of the players have left and they’ve built a squad under the same constraints as everyone else.

[RogerE]

All I can say about the final  is that at least the small cheats beat the big cheats.

When Sarries stop that "in the opposition face cheering and celebrating even the slightest positive outcome" is when I'll start to think about forgiving them.

Unfortunately refs have never stamped down on it, so now it appears to be too late unless WR dictates it must be stopped as it is against the "good sportsmanship" that Rugby has always tried to promote.

[Bloke in North Dorset]

+1
The 1st was surely a red-even looked deliberately leading with the shoulder and no mitigation. Maybe Faz has been coaching Aled? I got the feeling that the TMO thought it worse than Barns did, but acquiesced.
The 2nd appeared accidental, but probably a yellow due to the proximity of the try line.
 
A shame Ford was forced off early, and that Earl is allowed to get away with his continual screaming and OTT  celebrations
At least the kick fest has prepared us for Wimbledon!!
Well done Tigers

This plus many. TV directors should be instructed not to show it, instead they go looking for it as if its something that should be appreciated.

[mike909]

I'm with the others on this - I'm glad Tigers won - they might have fallen foul of the regs, but they weren't doing the sort of organised cheating  - initiated at the top - that allowed the Cheats to field almost a Lions' pack and have internationals on the bench....(to precis rather)

In the old days, there was winding up, usually physical - indeed I was voted "dirtiest player of the year" (moi?) by one team and in the days when I played against some military teams, wind ups were common and physical.....and you retaliated. Refs didn't really get involved as it was "the forwards sorting out" so to speak.

But now - it seems more trying to get a reaction and a card. It ought to be penalised as players can't sort it out. I hate to think of someone trying that on with Buster, say, back in the day......

[Bloke in North Dorset]

I was surprised to see so many gaps in the crowd, I thought it would be close to sell out. Rugby Inside Line has recent attendance figures:

2012: 81,779
2013: 81,703
2014: 81,193
2015: 80,589
2016: 77,109
2017: 79,657
2018: 75,128
2019:  75,329
2020: N/A
2021: N/A
2022: 72,784

Whilst attendances have been falling I don't thing many extra tickets will have been sold once the finalists were confirmed. Sarries are nobody's 2nd team with many rugby supporters actively disliking them, not just for the salary cap issues but because they are an unpleasant and unsporting team team to watch.

I wonder how many extra tickets would have been sold had Quins and/or Saints made the final instead of Sarries (depending on how top 4 finished) even against Tigers, and I think Quins v Saints would have been a near sell out and a better spectacle for ITV to show to the wider public.

There's also an element of Twickenham being an poor experience place to go because of costs (someone said £6.50 for a pint in the comments!) and poor transport links, but for a final I still think many rugby fans would make an effort to see a good game.

[hookender]

I just treated it as a day out with friends, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.no woes if wasps had been there and lost.

As far attendance concerned, maybe a couple of other events this weekend may have influenced this.Lots of groups of lads and lassies going to Ascot yesterday. Then there is The Baa baas game today. How many general rugby fans may have chosen to spend money on tickets for that?

 Someone on another site mentioned that tickets weren’t offered to amateur clubs ? Certainly club near me that we normally get tickets through weren’t organising anything, whereas in past normally have a coach full. If this is true up and down the country, that’s a lot of tickets unused.