Premiership final live: Exeter Chiefs win their first ever top flight title as Gareth Steenson scores extra-time penalty
Follow the latest from the Premiership final at Twickenham
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Your support makes all the difference.Wasps and Exeter Chiefs face off at Twickenham in the Premiership final with the winner set to be crowned the English champions for the 2016/17 season. Follow the latest here.
- Wasps vs Exeter Chiefs kicks off at 14:30 BST
- Wasps make three changes with Kurtley Beale absent through injury
- Tommy Taylor, Dan Robson and Josh Basset start
- Exeter make just one change as Olly Woodburn replaces James Short
- Wasps have not won the Premiership since 2008
- Exeter have never won the title and are in their second final after last year’s defeat
Follow the live action below...
Teams
Wasps: Willie Le Roux; Christian Wade, Elliot Daly, Jimmy Gopperth, Josh Bassett; Danny Cipriani, Dan Robson; Matt Mullan, Tommy Taylor, Phil Swainston; Joe Launchbury, Matt Symons; James Haskell, Thomas Young, Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: Ashley Johnson, Simon McIntyre, Marty Moore, Kearnan Myall, Guy Thompson, Joe Simpson, Alapati Leiua, Frank Halai.
Exeter Chiefs: Phil Dollman; Jack Nowell, Ian Whitten, Ollie Devoto, Olly Woodburn; Gareth Steenson, Stuart Townsend; Ben Moon, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Harry Williams; Dave Dennis, Geoff Parling; Kai Horstmann, Don Armand, Thomas Waldrom.
Replacements: Jack Yeandle, Carl Rimmer, Tomas Francis, Mitch Lees, Sam Simmonds, Will Chudley, Henry Slade, Michele Campagnaro.
Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today';s Premiership final, as Wasps and Exeter Chiefs battle it out at Twickenham for the right to be crowned the champions of England.
Kick-off is still over an hour away, but we'll bring you all the build-up, team news and latest goings on at HQ ahead of the big one.
The teams are about to be confirmed, and we'll bring you news of any changes as we get it, but for now here's the provisional squads:
Here's how the two sides line up for the Premiership final:
Wasps: Willie Le Roux; Christian Wade, Elliot Daly, Jimmy Gopperth, Josh Bassett; Danny Cipriani, Dan Robson; Matt Mullan, Tommy Taylor, Phil Swainston; Joe Launchbury, Matt Symons; James Haskell, Thomas Young, Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: Ashley Johnson, Simon McIntyre, Marty Moore, Kearnan Myall, Guy Thompson, Joe Simpson, Alapati Leiua, Frank Halai.
Exeter Chiefs: Phil Dollman; Jack Nowell, Ian Whitten, Ollie Devoto, Olly Woodburn; Gareth Steenson, Stuart Townsend; Ben Moon, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Harry Williams; Dave Dennis, Geoff Parling; Kai Horstmann, Don Armand, Thomas Waldrom.
Replacements: Jack Yeandle, Carl Rimmer, Tomas Francis, Mitch Lees, Sam Simmonds, Will Chudley, Henry Slade, Michele Campagnaro.
Just 30 minutes to go until kick-off and the stadium is already filling up nicely, with a good atmosphere building - especially among the many Chiefs fans who have made the journey up the M3 for today's special day.
What can we expect today then?
Well firstly, look out for the Exeter scrum. The pack made mince meat of Saracens last weekend and they have the weapons to do the same to Wasps. That will also make their driving maul a real danger, just as it proved in that final minute at Sandy park.
The Wasps back line needs no introduction, given the star names it harbours like Danny Cipriani, Elliot Wade and Willie le Roux. However, it's the Premiership Player of the Year in Jimmy Gopperth that makes everything click, and the inside centre will be the crucial figure in whether Wasps can find the dangermen out wide.
Points, and lots of them. The weather is beautiful and will favour running rugby, which is what we all want to see, as do the teams. Wasps have scored more this season than any other team has ever recorded, while Exeter are not far behind and have also mounted a 15-game Premiership winning streak.
There's plenty of Exeter fans here, and as the two teams are read out, it's the England duo of Jack Nowell and Henry Slade who get the biggest cheers. Unsurprisingly, it's the same for Wasps, as Joe Launchbury and James Haskell get the loudest support.
Exeter head in to the changing rooms a solid five minutes before Wasps, with the table-toppers now heading in to complete their final preparations. Not long to go now, and the final pre-match antics are just being put into place with plenty of fireworks and pyrotechnics planned for the teams' arrival.
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