Saracens battered by Clermont, Exeter right to talk up Premiership chances, Wasps always looked like scoring

Five things we learned: Leicester's determination just falls short and why we now have the perfect Premiership final to look forward to

Wasps will face Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership final after defeating Leicester Tigers (Getty)

Baxter right to talk up Exeter mentality change

The build-up to Saturday’s Sandy Park encounter stood out in Rob Baxter’s claim that his side now had the belief that they can become Premiership champions at the second time of asking, having learned from the pain of last season’s final defeat by Saracens.

All great teams have a track record of losing a big one before going on to triumph – much like the current Saracens team experienced a few years ago – and Exeter looked every part the side that deserved to be in the final. The Chiefs displayed a resilience and determination that they have shown regularly throughout this seven-month unbeaten Premiership record, and Henry Slade’s exceptional last-minute kick to touch that set-up the match-winning try proved just how confident this side are.

Baxter has his players hitting their stride at the right time, and that means they will be an incredibly hard to beat in next weekend’s final.

Saracens drained, battered and broken by Clermont

Saracens notably allowed their performance levels to drop off in the second quarter and they looked like a side that were drained of energy, which is no surprise given what it took to beat Clermont Auvergne in last weekend’s European Champions Cup final. After the highs of such a triumph, this was always going to be a tough ask for Sarries to peak their efforts again, and this time they simply ran out of gas.

That was made clear very early when Michael Rhodes was forced off with an ankle injury, and Chris Ashton quickly following him with a blow to his shoulder to sadly end his Saracens career in a very unfitting manner. Both Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell made a number of mistakes, the former uncharacteristically missing tackles and the latter misplacing passes and missing a kick to touch.

Saracens can rightly be proud of their season, and the standing ovation they received from Exeter fans at the final whistle was rightly deserved, but in the end it proved to be a game too far for the European champions.

Saracens have missed out on the 'double-double' (Getty)

Wasps always looked like scoring

There’s something about this Wasps side that makes them so dangerous from anywhere on the pitch, and unfortunately for Leicester Tigers, there was an air of inevitability in the build-up to Josh Bassett’s try two minutes from time during their 21-20 victory.

With the likes of Kurtley Beale, Willie le Roux and Jimmy Gopperth at their creative best, Wasps were able to shoot into an immediate lead, and while a resilient Tigers side not only hauled them back in but went in front in the second half, you got the idea that Wasps had one more try in them.

They have been the pace-setters for most of the season and have broken the record for the number of tries scored in a single year, so it was no surprise to see Bassett dive over after the pressure finally told on the Leicester defence.

Leicester passion not enough to take them to Twickenham

There was plenty of neutrals in the corner of Leicester come Saturday afternoon as club captain Tom Youngs led out his side, despite the well-documented issues he has off the pitch. That the England international played despite the news he and his family received two weeks’ ago that his wife, Tiffany, is terminally ill, is nothing short of inspiring, and the hooker received a standing ovation when he was replaced midway through the second half.

The same followed for his brother, Ben Youngs, who has chosen to pull out of the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand to spend time with his family, and at that point it looked like Leicester were going to knock off the Premiership table-toppers in an unlikely semi-final victory.

But sadly it wasn’t to be. Leicester couldn’t stem the Wasps attack, but let that take nothing away from what the Youngs brothers did on Saturday afternoon.

Ben Youngs looked dejected after Leicester's defeat by Wasps (Getty)

The right winners come out of semi-final Saturday

So it comes down to one 80-minute match at Twickenham between the sides who finished first and second in the Premiership table. Whether you’re a fan of the play-off system or not, it’s hard to argue against the final being made up of the two best teams this season.

Saracens may be the best in Europe on their day, but over the course of the year they have not played with the same constituency that they have shown in previous years and it has cost them – the failure to secure a home semi-final coming back to bite them, though by sacrificing that they managed to win the European Champions Cup.

It would have been a travesty had Wasps not made the showcase match, while Exeter very much deserve to be there after embarking on an unbeaten Premiership run since October. What it leaves is a cracking encounter that will see the two highest-scoring sides in the league go toe-to-toe.