Wasps v Exeter Chiefs Premiership Final, May 27th 2.30pm
We should have an epic battle at Twickenham on Saturday for the Rugby Premiership Final. There will be a sell out crowd in attendance and Wasps are in search of their first title since 2008. They topped the Aviva Premiership but did finish level on points overall with Exeter. Wasps collected only the fourteen bonus points in their W17 D1 L4 record for the season, while the Chiefs picked up 18 (a league high) in their W15 D3 L4 record.
There was a dramatic 35-35 draw between these two at Sandy Park back in February just to highlight how good of a match up this could be. They both came through very tight semi-final games as well, with Wasps edging out Leicester at the Ricoh Arena in a 21-20 victory thanks to a last-minute try from Josh Bassett. Exeter ran in a 79th minute try on home soil to grab victory from the jaws of defeat against Saracens.
Everyone is expecting the Premiership Final to be stacked with tries. Both sides set a new record of 83 tries scored in a Premiership season since it moved to a 12 team, 22 game season. Six of the Premiership’s 12 try-scorers this season, led by Wasp’s Christian Wade (17), play for either Wasps or Exeter. Wade is trading at 13/2 in the Ladbrokes First Tryscorer market for the final while the Chiefs have England international Jack Nowell at 17/2.
Exeter were runners-up in last season’s Premiership Final where they let Saracens get too far ahead of them too early. But they landed some revenge over Sarries by taking out, what many people regarded to be the best side in the playoffs, to get back to the final. Both of these are very attack-minded sides as the stats this season will attest too. Exeter are probably the slightly more expansive of the two and they are the ones who are likely to come out of the gates just that little bit quicker. But Wasps equally have the class and power in them to reel them back in if that happens.
So there should be a real try-fest on offer in the Premiership Final on Saturday and Ladbrokes have a pretty narrow line running in the handicap market with a Wasps +1 trading at even money. Neither can boast the best defensive line in the game at the moment at all and this is just going to be about who can hold their nerve and take their chances in attack. Wasps outscored Exeter for points in the season, but the Chiefs had the better defensive record so that all evens itself out. This final looks as if it has everything.
Wasps v Exeter Chiefs Betting Odds
Exeter Chiefs 5/6, Wasps 11/10, Draw 22/1
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