Premiership final: Saracens & Sale Sharks make one change each for Twickenham

Saracens and Sale Sharks have both made one change from their respective semi-final sides for the Premiership final at Twickenham on Saturday.

Owen Farrell will be aiming to captain the north London side to their sixth league title, and a first since 2019.

Jono Ross leads the Sharks in their first Premiership final since 2006.

Vunipola drops to the Saracens bench, while Aled Davies comes in among the replacements in the only other change from their semi-final win over Northampton Saints.

Daniel du Preez was also injured as Sale beat Leicester Tigers in the other semi-final, and Tom Ellis comes in for the South African among the Sharks substitutes as director of rugby Alex Sanderson aims to add to their sole Premiership title, which was secured 17 years ago.

Sarries are in their second consecutive final after returning to the league last season following relegation in 2019-20 for breaches of the league’s salary cap.

Mark McCall’s side were beaten 15-12 by Leicester last June as Freddie Burns scored a late drop-goal to win the game.

Saracens: Goode; Malins, Lozowski, Tompkins, Maitland; Farrell (capt), Van Zyl; Mawi, George, Riccioni, Itoje, Tizard, Isiekwe, Earl, Wray.

Replacements: Dan, M Vunipola, Judge, Hunter-Hill, Knight, De Haas, Taylor, Daly.

Sale Sharks: Carpenter; Roebuck, R Du Preez, Tuilagi, Reed; Ford, Warr; McIntyre, Van der Merwe, Schonert, J-L Du Preez, Hill, T Curry, Dugdale, Ross (capt).

Replacements: Ashman, Rodd, Oosthuizen, Beaumont, Ellis, Quirke, James, O’Flaherty.

Referee: Luke Pearce.

The final will see Saracens captain Owen Farrell and Sale’s George Ford, who have 106 and 81 England caps respectively, face off at fly-half for the second consecutive year.

Ford, then at Leicester, was injured in the first half of last season’s final and only returned to action for Sale in February.

“It was unfortunate the way that happened but this year is a completely different game,” Ford, 30, told BBC Sport.

“I’m at a new club, so I’m really focused on doing my job as well as I can for my new team.”

Lock Maro Itoje is aiming to win his fifth Premiership title with Sarries, having been part of their triumphs in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.

“Last year we fell short and it’s been a few years now since we’ve won the Premiership,” the 28-year-old England international said.

“We’ve had a lot of experience in these big games and these scenarios. It’s about who puts themselves on the front foot, who stands up and is counted on the day.

“We do have experience, but the challenge is to make that experience count.”