Final day is upon us!

Leicester Tigers and Saracens fight it out later today for the right to be Guinness Premiership Champions.

And while Leicester are seasoned pro's, and have experienced this occasion for the last six consecutive seasons, Saracens are relatively new to this.

Following last years South African but out, plenty of people from that very same nation have found there over to Vicarage Road, including influential Director of Rugby Brendan Venter who is of course banned from attending today.

While Leicester who have to be considered favourites after there overwhelming first place finish in the regular season, you can't count out Sarries.

If they are to triumph though they have to recreate the game at Welford Road earlier this month, when against the odds again they beat today's opponents 32-23 on there remarkable home patch.

Glen Jackson, who's retiring after the game, has been kicking everything in recent week and he has to continue this form to force mistakes from the Tigers pack as they did three weeks ago.

Anther thing they have to do is fight from first to last.

They did that terribly well at Welford Road, but if you give this Tigers side any space they will punish you in the utmost fashion.

The Sarries pack dominated at 8 May, and if they can do that again the pendulum will no doubt swing in there favour.

Following that victory not so long ago, it could be argued that Sarries will be going into the match the more confident.

They cannot let that go to there heads, but if they follow that same blueprint for success there's no doubt they will walk away from Twickenham as Premiership Champions.

New faces for Baa-Baas test

So the sight we never thought we would see again has materialised, Charlie Hodgson is back for the Red Rose at fly-half.

In the absence of Toby Flood, the man who carries most of the hope at Edgeley Park returns to start for the first time since that doomed tour in 2008.

In a poor Sale side this season however he has been a standout performer, and there has been calls from the Northwest for well over a year for their man to be given another chance.

Now that chance has finally come, and he must prove himself along with half-back partner Danny Care.

He isn't the only one that is been given chance in this non cap outing though, with players from Leicester Tigers and the injured Jonny Wilkinson all missing out.

The Tigers of course will be gracing the Twickenham turf on Saturday in the Premiership final, so we will see many other new faces in the side.

Shontayne Hape, Jon Golding and Dave Attwood will make their first appearances for their country at centre, prop and lock.

One of these in particular though is very exciting, and that is Bath Rugby man Hape.

He was around the squad for the duration of this years Six Nations, and was perhaps unlucky not to be given a chance then.

Another exciting addition is Ben Foden continuing at full-back, where he performed so well when given chance in the Six Nations.

His running game is second to none, and he can no doubt be a very dangerous outlet for England.

More flair in the backs in provided by Saracens bound David Strettle, who is back for his country following a series of injury problems.

It is fantastic to see the Harlequins man competing at the top level again, and if he can reach his past level we could be set for an excting time.

One overwhelming theme throughout the startin 15 though is the mix of youth and experience throughout.

Only the backrow contains three fullly experienced individuals, in the shape of James Haskell, Steffon Armitage and Nick Easter.

Even without the Tigers plays this team on the outset seems relatively strong, so ahead of the summer tour Martin Johnson could certainly have a few headaches to deal with.

The team to play Barbarians in full:

Ben Foden, Mark Cueto, Mike Tindall, Shontayne Hape, David Strettle, Charlie Hodgson, Danny Care, Jon Golding, Steve Thompson, Paul Doran-Jones, Dave Attwood, Tom Palmer, James Haskell, Steffon Armitage, Nick Easter

Replacements:

Lee Mears, Tim Payne, Dan Ward-Smith, Joe Worsley, Joe Simpson, Olly Barkley, Matthew Tait.

Let's get ready to rumble

So, at it's new Saturday evening slot, the battle of the Bernabeu will take place.

Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan V Louis Van Gaal's Bayern Munich, with both sides looking to claim an unprecedented treble.

Both have had troubled times in their respective leagues this season, but have crucially come through to take the ultimate prize.

Domestic cup competitions have also fell the way of this years two premier Champions League teams, meaning this evening could be one of the most exciting European finals for many a year.

You would expect a fully attacking match, although, you could be majorly disappointed.

In this years competition Mourinho has been criticised for sitting on leads, and doing just enough to get over the line.

But never going out to score as many goals as possible, however you couldn't bet against the Portuguese to come up trumps once again.

And if he does so he could soon be bidding a, not so fond, farewell to Italy.

It is not a secret that the Italians and Mourinho don't enjoy the best of relationships, and a treble win could be his legacy in Serie A.

Bayern on the other hand have always gone out to score this season, and as a result have been left short at the back on occasion.

This is exactly the type of thing that will not have gone unnoticed by the Milan side, and if this situation crops up tonight it will be fully exploited.

Wesley Sneijder's passing could unlock most defences, and with men short at the back it wouldn't be hard to pick out the pacey Samuel Eto'o.

Although the German's aren't short of attacking talent themselves, however they will be without main man Franck Ribery who is suspended.

That means Arjen Robben will have to step into the breach and be the creative force for his side, which we have already seen him do this season.

His wonder striker at both Fiorentina and Manchester United rescued his team, whereas Mourinho's side have often looked comfortable.

Even at Stamford Bridge and the Nou Camp where one goal would've knocked them out, they didn't look like conceding (although they come close in the latter, when a goal was disallowed for a dubious hand ball).

One thing is for certain though, someone will win a treble tonight and become a legend at their respective club, and I wouldn't bet against Mourinho adding another chapter to an already amazing story.

World Champions - at long last

Four days have past since England triumphed in the Twenty/20 final against the old enemy, and much has been said about the eventful day.

It was a performance nobody expected, to dominate Australia in such a way was almost unheard of, but great credit must go to everyone involved.

After years of sticking with pretty much the same side in all formats, England now have specialist performers for the shorter version.

In opening pair Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb, we have people who aren't afraid to attack during the opening powerplay.

This has set a great platform from which the middle order can attack when/if they are called upon.

Kevin Pietersen looks back to best, seemingly playing with a freedom we haven't seen for quite a while.

Then further down the order, there is the always unpredictable Eoin Morgan.

This must be a nightmare for oppositiong sides, the unpredictability of Pietersen and Morgan is, as we've seen, very destructive.

It must be disheartening when you work to get one out, and then the other comes to the middle and plays even more outrageously (just think the Australia game).

We also have to heap huge praise on the bowling attack, which has played out of it's skin game after game.

Tim Bresnan, another what seems some what of a twenty/20 specialist, has come in and further highlighted the need for different squads for the different formats.

Of course some of this group will now find there way into the One Day squad, but there is no reason why some of these names mentioned can't make break into the test side.

But if you look at the likes of Kieswetter, Morgan and Bresnan they lack the form and runs required in First Class Cricket to get into the National side.

This decision to specialise the Twenty/20 squad has paid the ultimate dividend, and there is no reason why England can't go on to dominate this format from here.

They have already shown, on a small scale, that they can beat anyone and if they continue to improve and develop it could be a fantastic few years.

Welcome to Sports Portal

Sports Portal will update with the latest news and views and sporting events from around the world. It is not going to be sport specific, and will try to cover as many as possible (although admittedly some will feature more than others).

There will atleast one new update a week, but in light of big news and events updates will come more often.

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