Aviva Premiership - Semi Finals Wrap

While the Celtic-Italian League Semi Finals were taking place and the Final round of the French Top 14 Saturday afternoon was a massive day for English rugby with the Semi Finals of the Aviva Premiership taking place. With both home sides winning their matches the Aviva Premiership Final has been confirmed to be contested between the Leicester Tigers and the Harlequins. The Tigers are the most successful team in the history of English rugby and the sides Semi Final win was against last seasons champions. The Quins, in contrast, are very much the underdogs and will be contesting a first ever final. The London based club, nevertheless, finished top of the table in the regular season and has a host of international players to enter the final in confidence. The Quins win came late in the match with a try four minutes from fulltime. The Final will be played at the home of English Rugby, Twickenham Stadium on May 26.

The Semi Finals matches were further reasoning for why Argentina 2023 is such a good idea as players from Argentina were involved in both Semi Finals and the United States of America was also represented, showcasing the Americas´ contribution to the global game. Come Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan, the Americas will be the final frontier - all other IRB defined regions will have hosted the Rugby World Cup at least once. 

Leicester Tigers 24-15 Saracens
Outgoing winger, Horacio Agulla played right wing with the Puma playing the full match. Marcos Ayerza played loosehead prop, similarly playing the full 80 minutes. While Argentine-Italian Martín Castrogiovanni came on in the 59th minute as a replacement for the Tigers. USA Eagles´ fullback, Chris Wyles played left wing for Saracens and Argentine-Italian prop Carlos Nieto was a replacement, coming on in the 61st minute.

Harlequins 25-23 Northampton Saints
Argentine secondrower Tomás Vallejos Cinalli was on the bench for the Quins. His USA counterpart, Samu Manoa did not feature for the Saints.