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Championship final details confirmed in favour of appeal-threatening Saracens
By Liam Heagney
A threat by Saracens to appeal the decision taken following last weekend's cancelled match versus Hartpury College has been assuaged after details for their two-legged Greene King IPA Championship final versus Ealing Trailfinders were confirmed with a favourable outcome for Mark McCall's side.
With a virus outbreak resulting in ninth-placed Hartpury being unable to play Saracens last Saturday and with isolation protocols preventing that game from being rearranged for this weekend, a decision was taken by the Championship's disputes committee that the match should be considered as a 0-0 draw with no league points awarded to either team.
This was an outcome that perplexed Saracens who suggested they could appeal the decision. With no match points awarded for the cancellation, it meant that McCall's 2019 Gallagher Premiership champions would finish in second place on the Championship table, five points behind the table-topping Ealing.
That situation left Ealing poised to be awarded home advantage at Vallis Way for the second leg of the promotion final due to their No1 finish.
However, with the potential for an appeal and the possible forced rearrangement of the cancelled Hartpury game adding an extra week to the already delayed season, it has now emerged that Saracens will have the all-important home advantage for the second leg of the final.
A statement on the Championship website read: "Ealing Trailfinders and Saracens will compete in a two-fixture final to find the winner of the Greene King IPA Championship. Taking place on consecutive weekends in June, Trailfinders Sports Club, home of Ealing Trailfinders, will be the venue for the first leg of the final and Saracens will host the second at the StoneX Stadium.
"Both matches will be broadcast live on TV, with BT Sport and Premier Sports each showing a match live. The two fixtures are: Sunday, June 13: Ealing vs Saracens (4.30pm, live on Premier Sports) and Sunday, June 20: Saracens v Ealing (3.30pm, live on BT Sport 2). The winner of the Championship final shall be the club with the highest aggregate score over the two fixtures."
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Latest Comments
My ‘fantasy’ team V Ireland,
Including options from ABXV if needed, as V Mun better V Ireland better prep than England.
The most important aspect V Ireland is AB need ALL their loosies AND 'loosie capable locks' on ALL match [except IF(?) any tiring ie the aging & slowing eg Cane]. As follows,
{starting} bench (3rd choice)
1 {De Groot} / Tu’ungafasi (Williams)
2 { anyone that can throw!! }/ Aumua (Brodie McAlister)
Ryan! coach lineouts & Aumua to throw!
3 {Lomax}/ Tosi (Newell )
Tosi immense strength V England
4,5 Locks { P.Tuipulotu, S.Barrett }, Vaa’i, Darry
( Isaia Walker-Leawere)
Vaa’i off V Eng. Assumed due to leg injury(?)
6,7,8 Loose forwards { Sititi, A.Savea, Cane } Vaa’i, S.Barrettm, P.Tuipulotu back up (Devan Flanders, Du'Plessis Kirifi )
9 {Roigard } Ratima ( TJ )
10 {D.McK} Perofeta ( Plummer)
12 {J.Barrett } ALB ( Q.Tupaea )
13 {Proctor} Ioane ( AJ Lam )
Ioane (off V England ) but Irish experience (NO not Sexton!)
14 { Tele’a} Reece (bkup W.Jordan )
11 {C.Clarke} Narawa (K.Naholo)
15 {W.Jordan} Love (Stevenson)
Go to commentsI guess the other option would be to start ALB, he's looked good in the 12 so far when he starts and sets up those outside him. But that would mean putting the vice captain on the bench, which is unlikely. Another option would be to drop Reiko to the bench and play Proctor, though he's gone home so that's not going to happen either.
Both of those players just offer more of the soft distribution skills good centres learn from playing their careers there. Unfortunately that's what's lacking with the current combo.
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