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It just gets better and better says Chuter

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George Chuter is preparing for his sixth Premiership Final in Leicester Tigers colours and thinks last year's nail-biter will take some beating as a spectacle and an experience.

The England international hooker ended his 10th season as a Tigers player with a starting role in the Twickenham win over Saracens last May and is looking forward to the rematch this Saturday.

“The competition gets tighter every year – just look at last year when the whole season really came down to the last 30 seconds of the last game,” Chuter says.

“We scored a try in the last minute but then we still had to steal a lineout to keep them out.

“Last year’s final such a great game with two good teams slugging it out all the way through. The lead changed hands however many times, it was nip and tuck all the way, and there was a fantastic atmosphere in the stadium.

“It’s not very often you get finals of that quality at any level. It shows how the Premiership Final has grown and grown.”

Chuter started his professional career at Saracens, playing alongside the likes of Danny Grewcock, Paul Wallace, Richard Hill, Kyran Bracken and Tony Diprose, and enjoyed a spell out of the game before moving to Welford Road in December 2000.

“We won the cup at Sarries in 1998 and the team we had then was among the best I’ve ever played with or against,” he says. “But I’ve been at Leicester a long time now and there have obviously been changes at both clubs over the years. I think it says a lot for both clubs that we’re contesting the final again.”

Chuter’s most recent contribution in a Tigers shirt was in the Aviva Premiership semi-final victory over Northampton Saints at Welford Road 10 days ago. It was a game which saw front-rowers Marcos Ayerza and Dan Cole join him in helping to create the match-winning opening for Alesana Tuilagi.

“Coley made the pass from the base, Thomas Waldrom took it on, then me, then Marcos,” he says. “They are not things you particularly train to do, but they just happen in a game. There was some good work there but Alesana still had to finish from 20 metres out. They are things a game can balance on.

“Saints was a real old-school derby. It’s at the end of a long season but you dig deep and from somewhere you can find something more that can win a game or change a game. There was so much passion on display in that game, so much sheer commitment from both teams.”

Read more from George Chuter in the Aviva Premiership Final matchday programme, available at Twickenham this Saturday, price £5.