Will Exeter or Saracens claim the final playoff spot? Your guide to the final round of the PREM Rugby season

A few weeks ago, it looked for all the world that the last round of PREM fixtures this weekend would be a dead rubber. Bath and Northampton Saints were running away with the top two spots, and the semi-finals were destined to be nothing more than warm-up games for the inevitable Bath vs Saints final on June 20.

Recent stumbles from the top two and resurgences from the chasing pack have thrown those sentiments out the window. Bristol Bears beating Bath 21-19 at Ashton Gate last Saturday has blown the play-off race wide open, making all sorts of weird and wonderful possibilities plausible as we head into the final round.

What makes the final day all the more intriguing is that our protagonists face off against each other. Northampton are sitting pretty at the top and have secured a home play-off but below them, there’s plenty to play for.

Exeter Chiefs vs Saracens

Two teams enter; one team leaves. Chiefs and Sarries are separated by just three points going into the final day, with the teams lying fourth and fifth in the standings.

Exeter come into the round on top but are faltering. The Devon side have lost three of their last five games, but a monumental 35-26 win over Tigers last time out keeps them in the driving seat for the clash at Sandy Park.

Saracens have found their form at the perfect time, putting together six wins in a row coming into the final round, including a crucial 19-15 win over Leicester to keep their play-off hopes alive. Saracens are the big bad wolf of English rugby, as they like to remind everyone via their pre-match warm-up song, but failing to win on Saturday would mean the North London side would miss the play-offs two years in a row for the first time in their history.

There’s a now or never feeling to this game for Exeter. 20 of Rob Baxter’s squad are leaving at the end of the season, most notably Australians Len Ikitau, Scott Sio and Wales forward Christ Tshiunza. Ikitau is heading back to Australia to be eligible for selection at the 2027 World Cup. Although Australia scrapping ‘Giteau’s law’, that restricted coaches selecting Aussies playing overseas, means that Ikitau could’ve stayed in Exeter all along.

‘Hopefully we’ll be able to win something. It’s another man test against Saracens. They like to bully teams but we’re going to rip into it,’ Ikitau told Daily Mail Sport this week.

‘We need to front up and be physical. It’s a quarter-final and our last home game at Sandy Park. The winner goes through and the loser doesn’t make the finals. There’s plenty to play for.’

The Chiefs will be without winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso for their biggest game of the season after he sustained a facial injury that requires surgery. The England winger will be a big miss for the Devon side after being the star of the show last time out against Leicester. Exeter will be hoping young winger Campbell Ridl will fill his shoes after some impressive performances earlier this season.

The trophy laden tenure of Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall could end as early as Saturday evening if his side fail to win. McCall announced he was stepping down from his role in January, and leaves as the most successful coach in PREM history having masterminded six domestic titles, and three European crowns.

Maro Itoje and co will be hoping to delay their legendary coach’s departure a few more weeks, and if recent form is anything to go by, they’ll do just that.

The North London club have made some big calls ahead of this must win game. Noah Caluori, Owen Farrell and Nick Isiekwe all start on the bench. Tom Willis starts at eight in what could be his and McCall’s last game for Saracens.

Bath vs Leicester Tigers

Second plays third in a straight shootout for the advantage of a home semi-final. This is a replay of last year’s final which saw Bath beat Tigers 23-21 at Twickenham. A game decided by a controversial yellow card awarded to Dan Cole in his last professional game.

Bath’s reputation as the unstoppable juggernaut of English rugby has taken a hit in recently. The West Country side has lost four of their last five games, including defeats by play-off rivals Exeter Chiefs, Northampton Saints, and Bristol Bears. Their only victory in recent weeks came against rock bottom Newcastle Red Bulls.

Leicester on the other hand looked to be finding their form at the perfect time with a dismantling of rivals Saints 42-17 at Welford Road in May on their way to winning seven of the last nine. However, a 35-26 loss to Exeter at home last week means Tigers could still finish fourth.

Bath’s talismanic fly-half Finn Russell is absent. The Scotland star was pulled out of training last week and missed the 21-19 loss to Bristol on Friday.

Bath’s head of rugby Johann van Graan said after that game ‘He’s got a tight calf. I pulled him out of training early in the week. We have already qualified for a semi-final… On the 13th we are playing a semi-final, and we want our best available team ready for then.’

Even with Russell out, Bath have an embarrassment of riches at 10 and across the team. Argentina star Santi Carreras starts at 10 and will be looking to make amends for his missed 56-metre penalty that ultimately cost his side the win at Ashton Gate.

South African Thomas du Toit and England’s Alfie Barbery both start what could be their final game in front of a home crowd at the Rec. England star Guy Pepper is being rested by van Graan in favour of academy product Ewan Richards.

Whether they finish second or fourth, Leicester appear to have found their first long-term coach in years in Geoff Parling. Parling won two Premierships with Leicester as a player but says much of his coaching is inspired by watching Aussie Rules.

Parling came in as the latest member of Tigers’ managerial merry-go-round after the departure of Australian Michael Cheika in the summer, their fourth coach in as many seasons.

Parling has done more than steady the ship. He has done the seemingly impossible: made Leicester Tigers entertaining. Former Tigers’ winger Tom Varndell rejoiced on BBC Radio Leicester: ‘We’ve never seen Leicester do this, they are playing with freedom and backing their skills.’

England and Tigers fullback Freddie Steward adds: ‘The traditional (Tigers) DNA is gritty, tight rugby. We still have that, but we have tried to add an attacking mindset.’

Tigers will be without Steward for Saturday’s clash but are at full strength otherwise, with former Bath centre Orlando Bailey getting the nod at 12 as they look to host a home semi-final for the first time since the departure of current England coach Steve Borthwick in 2022.