Dean Etheridge
The showpiece event in English Rugby Union takes place on Saturday, and with it comes the chance for redemption for Saracens when they face Leicester in the Premiership Final.
Congrats @Saracens 👏
Sarries fans, who do you want to face in the #GallagherPremFinal?
Get your tickets NOW ➡️ https://t.co/d8HZuz49eT pic.twitter.com/AHjasBuPIj
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) June 11, 2022
The Premiership Final decides who wins English rugby’s top-flight title. All season 13 of the top teams have battled it out, week in and week out, and it has come down to one match to decide the champions.
As can be the case, it’s not always the best two teams who contest the final. The top 4 sides from the Premiership league table in England qualify for the semi-finals (effectively playoffs), with 1st facing 4th and 2nd taking on 3rd.
In these situations, you can sometimes have two runaway teams at the top, but one might have an off day and lose their semi-final, and you can end up with not the desired final craved by neutrals.
Not this year! Leicester finished top of the Premiership with 94 points, Saracens second, with 87 points. These have been the top two teams in English rugby this season, and this is the final that most neutrals wanted.
The final standings 📊@LeicesterTigers 🔝, @SaintsRugby seal a semi spot, and @WorcsWarriors move off the bottom 👊
Happy with where your team finished the #GallagherPrem season? pic.twitter.com/HOsry3ZTiS
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) June 4, 2022
Premiership Final Betting
Despite Leicester finishing top of the table, they are not the favorites going into this match. BetOnline makes Saracens their -206 betting favorites. Leicester Tigers are +166. The Tigers also have a 4.5 points start on the spread.
| 2022 Premiership Rugby Final Betting |  |  |
| Leicester Tigers | +166 | +160 |
| Saracens | -206 | -200 |
Our BetOnline Review has more betting information and offers for both new and existing customers.
The Premiership Final; What You Need To Know!
The match is being played at the home ground of English rugby, Twickenham Stadium.
- What; 2021/22 Premiership Final
- Who; Leicester Tigers v Saracens
- When; Saturday, June 18th, 2022
- Where; Twickenham Stadium, London, England
- Time; 10 am ET
The game will be decided on the day. If the scores are level after 80 minutes, there will be extra time. If that doesn’t end with an outright winner, the team that scores the most tries in the match wins. And if that is also level, a place kick competition will decide the trophy, with three kickers from each team designated.
The defending champions are Harlequins, who were eliminated this season by Saracens at the semi-finals stage. Quins lost 34-17 on the day and were pretty comprehensively outplayed by this year’s betting favorites.
The Soap Opera that is Saracens
The best Rugby betting sites are all favoring a Saracens win this Saturday. If you’re not familiar with rugby in England, and you just looked at the table and saw Leicester were the highest points scorers, you would rightly ask why?
The reason is that Saracens are a team and club in recovery. They were relegated out of the Premiership at the end of the 2019/20 season for financial irregularities. So, last season was spent in the second tier of English rugby, where they, by and large, hung onto all their star players.
This year is Saracen’s first year back in the top flight after that humbling experience.
Yes, as I alluded to, they’ve hung onto most of their top stars. But as a result of relegation, squad players were let go, which has left Sarries short on backup power. The sort they had back in their pre-relegation days.
Back then, Saracens were the team to beat. Between 2015 and 2019, Sarries won the Premiership four times in five years, and two European Champions Cups. They were the strongest side in England and one of the strongest teams in the world.
Despite losing squad members, Saracens started this season strongly, but they did struggle mid-season. This was mainly due to injuries and not having the strength of the squad they previously had to cover for the missing players.
In short, their strongest 15 would beat anybody, but they couldn’t always get their best 15 on the field. And due to previous misdemeanors already mentioned, the team struggled with their backup players.
Going into the Premiership final, Saracens have nearly all of their major players fit. They have players like Owen Farrell, who missed a large part of the season, available for the final. This is why Sarries are the favorites.
Can Leicester Tigers Spoil the Party?
Many see Saturday’s final as Saracens’ shot at redemption. But that’s not going to matter one iota to Leicester Tigers. The Tigers are historically the most successful club in England.
They’ve not been at their best in the last 10 years, granted, but they will still see themselves as the top dogs, and Saracens as intruding on their patch.
This season they’ve been phenomenal. In the league season, they only lost 4 from 24 (Saracens lost 6), and they finished the table 7 points clear of Saturday’s opponents.
Reaction 💯
After securing their final spots, stars from @LeicesterTigers and @Saracens took to social media to react 📱 #GallagherPremFinal | #GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/RczyaNjaPY
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) June 14, 2022
In the head-to-head this season, the Tigers won the opening match 13-12 at Welford Road (Leicester’s home ground). While in the reverse fixture, Saracens won 34-27. That was in March and is the most recent of the matches between the two sides.
It was also a more comprehensive result!
This is why in my Rugby Picks for this match, I’m going for a Saracens win. I believe the Sarries players will see this as their destiny and their shot at redemption, and I’m taking Saracens to win on the spread.
