Spotlight On... Aviva Premiership Final

“Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.” On the eve of the Aviva Premiership Final it feels exactly like Christmas Eve, except unlike the poem the rugby world is buzzing with excitement and shouting from the rooftops about the upcoming Aviva Premiership Final! The match between Saracens and Northampton will be breathtaking and at the home of England Rugby there is an action packed day of action planned before, during and after the match itself.  

Throughout the year the BT Sport team have guided us through round after round of action and rightly so they are dedicating almost the whole day to rugby! BT Sport 1 is the home of Aviva Premiership Rugby and it all starts at 11.30am with the BT Sports Panel discussing things rugby related with their guest Andy Goode. Once the panel are finished then the delightful Craig Doyle and the rest of the cracking BT Sport Rugby Team will take over to feature the match live and finally the Clare Balding Show will be hosted live from Twickenham for all of the post match reaction. The BT Sport Team has been working hard in the run up to the match... Rugby Tonight on Wednesday was filled with interviews from Saints and Saracens players and today (Friday 30th May) Lawrence Dallaligo and David Flatman had photocall at Waterloo Stadium with the Aviva Premiership Trophy. So if you can’t make it to Twickenham then as long as you have a TV or an iPad/PC in sight you will be fine, in fact with all of that coverage you have absolutely no excuse to miss any of the Aviva Premiership Final action!!

A match day at Twickenham is a unique and special experience and for those of you who are joining me at HQ we have a lot of exploring to do in the West Car Park! Naturally the first port of call is to get your face painted and mark your colours and let me reassure you all that lining up with the children in the queue is not embarrassing at all, you should queue with your head held high and maybe even a pint in hand!!! After that there are many activities on hand that will help you to release a few nerves through a spot of healthy competition;  there will be an Aviva Batak, the light up reaction game, a Grab A Ticket Booth and then two rugby challenges; the Gatorade Speed Pass Challenge and Kicking Distance Challenge.  The West Car Park will also house the Land Rover Owners Tent, a McLaren Mercedes Race Car Challenge and I’ve even heard there might be a spot of Pol Roger Champagne on offer, needless to say you know where to find me!!!!

The Final kicks off at 3pm and will showcase two superb rugby projects; the Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme and the HITZ Programme. These are two programmes that work throughout the year to develop our game and use the values of rugby to develop young people’s skills and help them to fulfil their potential.  future. The Schools Programme introduces rugby to schools that haven’t been heavily involved in it before and develops children’s’ understanding and skills across the country. One school from each Premiership Club’s programme will be on the pitch at half time to soak up the atmosphere and be inspired by the home of England Rugby. The HITZ Programme tackles some of the key challenges facing young people today including unemployment and crime and uses rugby to help young people re-build their lives. HITZ Programmes are associated with our Aviva Premiership Clubs and on Saturday 60 HITZ Young Ambassadors will share the day with our Premiership Finalists and hopefully be inspired by their achievements. Out On The Full will be bringing you the full story of the HITZ programme in the coming weeks so watch this space!

Twickenham Stadium is the home of England Rugby and it is one of the greatest venues in the world to watch rugby at. This year the Aviva Premiership has given us all a huge amount of pleasure and the Final will be a celebration of the 22 rounds of stunning action that was delivered to us by 12 outstanding teams. In South West London the sun is due to shine and the rugby is guaranteed to be electric so I suggest that you head to Twickenham early and delight in a full day of Aviva Premiership Rugby!