RUGBY UNION - ENGLISH LEAGUE AND CUP
1998 TO 2008/09
1998
Tetleys Bitter Cup Final - Saracens (48) v (18) Wasps - Saracens claimed their 1st ever major trophy with a record-equalling win over Wasps at Twickenham. Saracens led 29-6 at the half after a quick start, and coasted home in the 2nd half to equal the record of the most points scored in a Final. The Saracens tries came from Phillipe Sella, Ryan Constable, Gavin Johnson, Danny Grewcock, Steve Ravenscroft, Richard Wallace and Kyran Bracken while Michael Lynagh added 5 conversions and a drop goal. The Wasps tries came from Paul Volley and Shane Roiser. Saracens also featured captain Tony Diprose, Francois Pienaar and George Chuter but were missing Richard Hill to injury. Wasps were led Lawrence Dallaglio and also featured Simon Shaw, Joe Worsley, Alex King and Rob Henderson (8, Transfer from official VHS, 2 Discs, SKY - Harrison/Barnes, PAL)
2003
Powergen Cup Final - Gloucester (40) v (22) Northampton Saints - Gloucester secured their 1st Powergen cup title since 1982 with a strong Offensive showing against the Saints. Both teams were on fire in the 1st half and Northampton went in at the break with a 22-20 lead. But Gloucester controlled the 2nd half, keeping Northampton scoreless, while running in 2 tries of their own to take the win. The Gloucester tries came from James Simpson-Daniel (2), Marcel Garvey and James Forrester with Ludovic Mercier adding 20 points with the boot. The Northampton try came from Nick Beal. Gloucester also featured Andy Gomarsall, Henry Paul and Tinus Delport. Northampton also featured Matt Dawson, Paul Grayson, Bruce Reihana, Ben Cohen and Steve Thompson. Includes hi-lites of the Round 6 match v Exeter, the Quarter Final v Saracens and 15 minute hi-lites of the Semi-Final against Leicester (9, Transfer from Official VHS, 2 Discs, BBC - Mullins/Moore, PAL)
2004
Powergen Cup Final - Newcastle Falcons (37) v (33) Sale Sharks - Newcastle scored with 5 minutes left to win the cup for the 2nd time in 4 years. The final was the highest scoring ever with 7 tries (9, 2 Discs, BBC - Mullins/Moore, PAL)
Premiership Final - Wasps (10) v (6) Bath - Wasps complete the domestic and European double with a hard fought win over a re-surgent Bath team. Bath led 3-0 at the half but a Stuart Abbott try and an Alex King drop goal completed the comeback (9, 2 Discs, SKY - Harrison/Barnes, PAL)
2005
Powergen Cup Semi-Final - Bath (24) @ (19) Gloucester - The 2 bitter rivals faced off with a trip to the final at stake. Both teams went to extra-time where a last minute try sealed the win for Bath (9, 3 Discs, BBC - Butler/Moore, PAL)
Powergen Cup Final - Leeds (20) v (12) Bath - Leeds, in their 1st ever final, used great defense and opportunistic attacking play to defeat Bath and claim their 1st ever trophy (9, 2 Discs, BBC - Mullins/Moore, PAL)
Premiership Final - Wasps (39) v (14) Leicester - In Martin Johnsons' last ever game, Wasps and Lawrence Dallaglio showed no mercy in winning their 3rd consecutive title (9, 2 Discs, SKY - Harrison/Barnes, PAL)
2006
Premiership Final - Sale Sharks (45) v (20) Leicester Tigers - Sale finished the season top of the table and confirmed their status as the best team with a convincing win over the Tigers in the rain at Twickenham. Man-of-the-match Charlie Hodgson scored 23 points (9, 2 Discs, SKY - Harrison/Barnes, PAL)
2007
Premiership Final - Gloucester (16) v (44) Leicester Tigers - Leicester Tigers claimed their first domestic Double with a strong Offensive showing at a damp Twickenham. After a nervy opening 32 minutes, Leicester held a slim 7-6 lead, but the forwards started to take control and rattled off 15 unanswered points to go in at the break with a 22-6 lead. After a Gloucester penalty at the start of the 2nd half, Leicester ended the game as a contest with 3 more unanswered tries and ran out easy winners against a shell-shocked Gloucester team. The try scorers for Leicester were Frank Murphy, Alesana Tuilagi (2), Martin Corry, Andy Goode, Shane Jennings and Lewis Moody with Andy Goode also kicking 15 points. The Gloucester try came from Ryan Lamb with Willie Walker adding 11 points with the boot. Leicester also featured Geordan Murphy, Seru Rabeni, Ben Kay and Dan Hipkiss. Gloucester also featured James Simpson-Daniel, Ian Balshaw and Peter Richards. The coverage is a 2020 re-broadcast with Ben Kay offering insights into the game as the game is played (9, 2020 Re-Broadcast - 1 hour 12 minutes hi-lites, 1 Disc, BT Sport - Mullins/Kay, PAL)
2008
EDF Cup Semi-Final - Leicester Tigers (34) v (24) Wasps - In a game full of great attacking rugby, it was the Tigers that upset the Wasps as Fly Half Andy Goode scored 19 points and set-up 2 tries aswell. Wasps Danny Cipriani was equally as effective, scoring 2 tries and setting up another for Paul Sackey (10, 2 Discs, BBC - Butler/Moore, PAL)
Premiership Final - Wasps (26) v (16) Leicester Tigers - In his final game, Wasps captain Lawrence Dallaglio won the Premiership trophy. Wasps used a strong 1st half and tries from Tom Rees and Josh Lewsey to build a 23-6 lead before Leicester fought back with tries from Tom Varndell and Harry Ellis to get close. But Wasps held on to win their 4th title in 6 seasons (2 versions : 10, Full game, 1 Disc, SKY - Harrison/Barnes, PAL / 10, 57 minute hi-lites, 1 Disc, BBC, PAL)
2008/09
EDF Cup Final - Cardiff Blues (50) v (12) Gloucester - Cardiff claimed their 1st trophy since becoming a regional team with a runaway win over Gloucester. Cardiff started strong, scoring 22 points in the 1st half with tries from Leigh Halfpenny (2), Ben Blair and Tom James. The 2nd half was no less dominating for the Blues but they had to wait until the last 15 minutes to score the final 28 points with 2 more tries from Ben Blair and 1 each from Ceri Sweeney and Tom Shaklin. The man-of-the-match was the Blues Martyn Williams with a great all-around display (10, 2 Discs, BBC - Cotter/Moore, PAL)
Premiership Final - Leicester Tigers (10) v (9) London Irish Exiles - The Tigers claimed their 6th title in 11 years with a low-scoring win against the Exiles. A solitary try from Jordan Crane in the 2nd half gave the Tigers the edge they needed and they defended the 1 point lead to the finish. The Tigers featured Geordan Murphy, Dan Hipkiss, Julian White, Ben Kay and Tom Croft. The Exiles featured Delon Armitage, Stefon Armitage and Mike Catt (10, 2 Discs, SKY - Harrison/Barnes, PAL)