It’s a glorious day in south west London to welcome the capacity crowd to the stands in Twickenham. There are flags being waved on the pitched and we’re minutes away from the teams making an appearance.
This is final game for Leicester’s Dan Cole and Ben Youngs, bringing to an end two outstanding domestic and international careers. They’ve already had one eye on the post playing days, however, with the groundbreaking idea oflaunching a podcast– and pretty descent it is to, in fairness to them.
Pre match reading
Read the story behind Bath’s last win
And what has motivated globetrotting Christian Wade to make his next stop in the erstwhile Lancashire coalfield
This is last domestic outing for these players before the Lions tour, you can let me know your thoughts on that, the match or anything else on theemail.
Johann Van Graan rewards Miles Reid with a starting spot at No. 8 after his second half impact played a huge role in the defeat of Bristol, Alfie Barbeary moves to the bench. Elsewhere in the pack Thomas du Toit swaps with the bench bound Will Stuart at tighthead. Finn Russell has recovered from the knee injury that saw him limping off last week to start at stand-off.
Leicester are as you were from their win over Sale in the semis.
Bath Rugby:15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Max Ojomoh, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c); 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Miles Reid,
Replacements:16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Ciaran Donoghue, 23 Alfie Barbeary
Leicester Tigers:15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Solomone Kata, 12 Joseph Woodward, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet; 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Cameron Henderson, 5 Ollie Chessum, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Olly Cracknell
Replacements:16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Cronin, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Matt Rogerson, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Izaia Perese
What were you up to in the mid 90s? This correspondent was doing what was expected of a white, northern, elder teenager of the time; tending to my hair curtains, grappling with the new concept called ‘alcopops’, having loud singalongs to a certain guitar band and noting what a shambles the once dominant Conservative party now appeared to be.
Alongside this, anybody paying attention to rugby union football will have become bored of Bath and Leicester’s apparent sharing protocol for all the major trophies of the previous decade: “to me, to you”, as someother cultural behemoths of the time would say.
Sound familiar? Well it should given much of the above list is happening again this very summer, including a rematch between the Gallaghers and a season decider between the historic rivals in English domestic rugby. Bath haven’t won the big one since 1996 after professionalism derailed their dominance, leaving them to gaze jealously from afar at Leicester’s late 90s and early 2000s imperial phase.
The form of the whole season points to a cathartic win for the team from the west country, but don’t rule out the Tigers’ pedigree and coach Michael Cheika’s moxie and wit on the big stage.
What’s The Story (Morning Glory)? There will be a few thumping heads tomorrow and soon find out which set of players will have the far preferable celebratory version of a hangover.