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Courtney Lawes and three other Premiership final talking points
By Liam Heagney
We are set for a potential classic to unfold at Twickenham on Saturday after first versus second in the Gallagher Premiership regular season won their way through to a sold-out showpiece poised to be a brilliant advert for the sport. Here are the RugbyPass talking points ahead of the big dance:
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Stats that matter
It’s brilliant that we have a final where there have been no injury doubts in the build-up, permitting Phil Dowson and Johann van Graan to name unchanged match day 23s from their semi-finals.
The respective Northampton and Bath bosses have also maintained the tactic of a six/two forwards/backs split bench and how that extra forward approach plays out will generate theatre coming down the finishing straight.
As is always the case, a myriad of statistics have accompanied the showpiece hype but which, if any, caught the eye? Chances are when it comes to try-scoring Alex Mitchell and Finn Russell will likely feature.
The England scrum-half has provided the assist for 11 Northampton tries with the Scotland out-half, whose story about a miracle injury recovery in the Bahamas in April has now emerged, responsible for nine Bath try assists.
The duo also certainly enjoy an offload, Russell credited with a league second-best tally of 25 and Mitchell producing 21 for a joint-sixth ranking.
Saints’ Tommy Freeman is the man when it comes to linebreaks, fashioning a joint chart-topping 26 this term. That’s three more than teammate Ollie Sleightholme and seven better than Will Muir, Bath’s most frequent linebreaker.
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Expect Alex Coles to show up on the tackle count. His 190 for the season – including 16 in the semi-final against Saracens – ranks him the best defender of the 46 players selected for the final.
However, the figure that most intrigues concerns Ben Spencer, a veteran of multiple title wins with Saracens.
Kicking has gotten a bad rep these last few years but the type of accuracy produced by the Bath scrum-half is fascinating and a warning for Northampton to be on their guard.
A whopping 36 of his kicks in 2023/24 have been retained, six of those coming last Saturday versus Sale. His support cast isn’t shabby with half-back Russell on 21, four more than the first Saints player on the list, Fin Smith with 17.
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Box office gem
Premiership Rugby officials can’t publicly say it given the need to be supportive of all 10 participating clubs in its league, but Saturday’s Northampton versus Bath pairing has been a box office gem.
Last year, Saracens and Sale attracted an attendance of 61,875 to Twickenham, filling just a little over three-quarters of the available capacity at English rugby HQ despite a two-week lead-in between semi-finals and final.
Who’s going to make history? ?@SaintsRugby and @BathRugby have named their sides ahead of tomorrow’s #GallagherPremFinal.
Watch live on @rugbyontnt and @itvrugby ?#GallagherPrem | #NORvBAT pic.twitter.com/tKaAekQZGd
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) June 7, 2024
With just a single week to sell tickets this year after the semi-finals, there would have been sweaty palms that sales could be limited, especially as Saracens and Sale had qualified for the semi-finals and were poised to set up a repeat of the 2023 final.
However, last weekend’s victories for Bath and Northampton headed off that Sarries/Sharks renewal, and what instead materialised was a ticket rush that resulted in Premiership officials declaring on Wednesday that the final was sold out. That’s a great shot in the arm for the comp.
Yes, the lack of success that each club have had in the league – Bath are potless since 1996 and Northampton since 2014 – certainly contributed to the rush for seats, but the level of demand was a welcome recognition that these are the league’s two best attacking sides and a packed-out stadium is a fitting stage for them to strut their stuff one last time in 2023/24.
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Courtney’s farewell
Those in attendance at Twickenham should feel lucky to be present for what will be Courtney Lawes’ final appearance before he heads across the Channel to join second-tier Brive next season. The 35-year-old’s elite-level career has been a fantastic watch, from the British and Irish Lions to England and down into the club game with Northampton.
He has been a super ambassador for English rugby, but the curious thing is that he might never have taken up the sport despite growing up locally in Northampton. This nugget was something he revealed last weekend before his final Franklin’s Gardens appearance.
“I grew up around here, literally on these streets, it is like a two-minute walk down the road (from Franklins Gardens),” explained Lawes. “It was before England won the (2003) World Cup, I must have been about 12 or 13 when I first went to the ground.
“It was with my uncle Pete. I didn’t really have a clue what rugby was, to be honest. It was only because it was right down the road and he was a big fan. I didn’t even start playing it until a couple of years afterwards.”
So, a titan of the sport wasn’t hooked by his first visit. It’s a sharp reminder that getting kids interested will always be a battle that rugby can’t ever take for granted.
The Bath wait
Just a dozen of Bath’s match day 23 were alive when the club were last crowned champions of England in 1996, a figure highlighting the considerable wait their fans have had to endure.
Not that any of those players would have been aware of that year’s celebrations at The Rec for a third title in a row and their sixth in eight seasons.
Charlie Ewels and Will Muir, for example, were less than a year old at the time of that last triumph and the goings-on in the English league were hardly something that a five-year-old Niall Annett – the oldest Bath player togging out at Twickenham – would have known about growing up in Northern Ireland.
This 28-year Bath interval for the title illustrates that nothing lasts forever in rugby, and they might not get as good an opportunity as this Saturday to bridge the long gap.
Saracens’ winning of four titles in five seasons between 2015 and 2019 has given way to a series of one-off title wins and 2024’s final will see a fifth different team crowned champions in five seasons. That’s a variation that is great for the product.
