The day Leicester Tigers fans took over Twickenham from our reporter at HQ

Walking around the streets running into Twickenham Stadium, there was a sea of green, red and white. Upstream towards public houses are downstream to headquarters, it was an overwhelming surge of support.

Hours before kick-off, excitement and expectation were in the air, along with a sprinkling of fear and dread. Top of the Gallagher Premiership all season, Leicester Tigers had one last obstacle to overcome before getting their hands on the trophy for the 11th time.

Yet when I spoke to dozens of fans before a ball was kicked, the main emotion on display was joy. Families marched along in replica kits from through the generations, couples hand-in-hand embraced their day out and groups of lads with beer cans bulging from pockets roared “Tigers, Tigers, Tigers”, fuelled by optimism and strong European lager.

This was once an annual pilgrimage for this supporter base. Between 2005 and 2013, they reached NINE successive Premiership finals at Twickenham Stadium. I know, on numerous occasions I was among them. Witnessing the arduous win over London Irish and the slaughtering by Sale Sharks, win or lose, a season following Tigers ended at Twickenham Stadium.

A slide in their own standards and the rise of some new superpowers of English rugby saw them lose four consecutive semi-finals, the precursor to years when near misses on reaching the top four gave way to genuine relegation fears.

The turnaround tale has been well told, by myself and countless others, there’s no need to revisit it. What it has delivered is a showpiece event for people to attend in their droves. Parents with their offspring who were children for their previous Premiership final visit are now young adults, some were not even born at all.

Each group and