The time for talking, and coloured smoke, and electric guitars is over...it's rugby time.

Ref Karl Dickson tells Handre Pollard to get us off and running... 267 days of the season has all come down to this...

Strap in...

Image source, PA Media

After fireworks and pyros greeted the players to the field and then a poignant minute's silence for the victims of the Air India disaster, we'll now have a very guitarry national anthem performed by Sam Ryder.

Chris Ashton
Former England and Leicester wing on BBC Radio 5 Live

A lot of this season, the focus has been on Bath and how they've dominated. Leicester have kind of gone under the radar with it.

The teams are, on paper, very similar. You've got World Cup winners, World Cup finalists on both teams.

Leicester potentially, on paper, look stronger because they've got winners, they've got people who have been there and done it. There's only Ben Spencer at Bath who has managed to win the Premiership.

So I would say Leicester from that point of view are dangerous for Bath.

Martin Haag
Ex-Bath forward on BBC Radio Bristol

I think last year Bath came here as underdogs almost, Northampton were the form team but this year Bath have been the number one team pretty much all the way through the season.

I think it's there's to lose today. They've got the experience from last year, they've been playing some great rugby over the last eight or nine weeks anyway, they've rotated their squad, they're going to be fit and ready to go now and will want to put the wrongs of last year right.

Leicester will put up a fight for 60 minutes but I think Bath will be too strong as they have done all season.

Image source, Getty Images

Michael Cheika accepts Bath go into the Premiership final as overwhelming favourites against his Leicester Tigers side.

Tigers finished second in the table, 11 points adrift of a Bath side looking to complete a trophy treble, having already claimed the European Challenge Cup and Premiership Rugby Cup this season.

Bath were the first side to inflict a Premiership defeat on Tigers during Cheika's one-season reign, when they edged past the East Midlands club at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in September.

They made it two from two this term in resounding fashion when they thumped Tigers 43-15 less than a month ago to emphasise their dominance in the league.

"I know we will be doubted and probably for good reason from the results and the table," the 58-year-old Australian told BBC Radio Leicester.

"The important thing is that from inside the team and the group of people we have around, that we don't doubt and that we have belief.

"I can understand the predictions and why they make them, whether they are done from data or delivered by experts.

"We are going to be playing against a team that will be well fancied, who have dominated the season so far.

"We have strong self-belief internally and that will be something that will be really important. This is a good opportunity for us to use that belief in ourselves, because what that gives you is a hand in knowing what you will have to do."

Image source, Opta/Getty Images

Leicester have named an unchanged side from their semi-final win against Sale.

Captain Julian Montoya will lead the club for the final time, with retiring duo Dan Cole and Ben Youngs both among the replacements.

Adam Radwan, who has scored 10 tries in eight Premiership matches for the Tigers since joining from Newcastle in January - including two against the Sharks last Saturday - starts again on the wing.

Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya (c), Heyes; Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.

Replacements: Clare, Cronin, Cole, Rogerson, Ilione, Youngs, Volavola, Perese.

Image source, Opta/Getty Images

Bath have made two changes to their starting XV for the final, following their semi-final victory against Bristol last Friday.

Prop Thomas du Toit comes into the front row in place of Will Stuart, who drops to the bench, and Miles Reid is at number eight in place of Alfie Barbeary, who is also among the replacements.

Their backs remain unchanged, with Ben Spencer and Finn Russell combining at scrum-half and fly-half, and wingers Will Muir and Joe Cokanasiga with Tom de Glanville at full-back.

Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Ojomoh, Redpath, Muir; Russell, Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn, Du Toit; Roux, Ewels, Hill, Pepper, Reid.

Replacements: Annett, Van Wyk, Stuart, Molony, Bayliss, Carr-Smith, Donoghue, Barbeary.

Bath coach Johann Van Graan speaking to BBC Sport:

"This is what rugby is about. Community, connection between the club and the city. I don't know if anybody is left in Bath because it seems like everybody is out there.

"We performed here last season but ultimately with that last bit of the game, we couldn't quite finish and we lost by four points but we didn't really speak about that, we just spoke about sticking to our process and enjoying the week.

"Who knows what might happen. Two quality sides, we will just give it our very best shot.

"Rugby is a funny game. You've got to go and earn it. Whatever happens, I know that we wouldn't change anything as a group. Let the chips fall where they may."

Leicester Tigers coach Michael Chieka, who will depart the club following today's final, speaking to BBC Sport:

"The last game part isn't really relevant but it doesn't get any better than this. Playing in a final here at Twickenham, it's such a brilliant ground.

"You've got to put all those things aside and think about what you've got to do to beat the team that's led the competition all the way through. Put all those other emotions aside and use the emotions that can maybe help us on the day.

"It's about performing in the most difficult moments."

Here we are, it is the biggest of days for English club rugby and all eyes are locked on Bath and Leicester Tigers.

We want to know how you see it playing out?

But, to keep with the interestingly timed rebrand of Premiership Rugby as the Prem we want to get your thoughts in a hip new lingo. You know, something that would vibe with the fam (is that a thing?).

Anyway, it is Prem GF time... yolo (again, does that work... meh)

Image source, Rex Features

There's nothing like a good final to take sporting rivalries to a new level and the Dabinett household is split more than most this afternoon.

Despite their rivalry, Bath supporter Tom Dabinett, 31, and his wife Hannah, 30, who is backing Leicester Tigers, will sit next to each other to watch the match at Twickenham.

"We're lucky in rugby that there isn't that segregation like there is in football... so luckily we are sat next to each other," Mr Dabinett told BBC Leicester.

Mr Dabinett said his wife had tried to wind him up by buying him a Leicester Tigers mug with "number one fan" written on it.

"I'm surprised the mug has lasted as long as it has," he added.

"We've also got a four-month-old son, so he's got a shirt of both Bath and a Leicester shirt."

Mrs Dabinett, who now lives in Yatton, Somerset, with her husband said her mum and dad are originally from Leicester, so she had grown up with a Tigers season ticket.

Image source, Getty Images

One for the Bath fans...

Still on the way to the stadium, or have a bit of time to kill before kick-off, then this is for you.

BBC Radio Somerset have published a series of three short episodes in a series entitled Rebuilding Bath Rugby.

Episode one, Rock Bottom, charts the club's journey from the top of the game to the bottom of the Premiership, the second instalment, A New Era, examines the arrival of Johann van Graan and an uptick in fortunes while the third episode, Resurgence, focuses on the two trophies the club have already won this season and the quest for glory this afternoon.

Click here to listen via BBC Sounds.

Image source, Getty Images

Bath fly-half Finn Russell says the team are going in the right direction to "achieve something special" in the Premiership final.

Bath are aiming to win their first league title for 29 years after finishing top of the regular-season table by 11 points, while they are also chasing a treble having already clinched domestic and European honours this season.

Russell, who joined the club in 2023, was part of the squad that lost to Northampton Saints by four points in last season's final and has vowed to "rip-in" to this afternoon's game after coming off with cramp in the semi-final win over Bristol eight days ago.

"I came here to win things, as a group we're going in the right direction to hopefully achieve something special here," Russell told BBC Radio Somerset.

"One of my goals coming to Bath was to win some stuff, as it is for probably all of the players here. I think we've almost got back to where we wanted to be but hopefully go one step further this year."

Russell is used to playing at Twickenham, having won there with Scotland on two of their past three visits during the Six Nations, but said the prospect of playing in front of a sold-out stadium packed with Bath fans was one he was looking forward to.

"I like Twickenham, I think it's a great stadium. This game's been sold out for a while now but it sounds like there'll be a lot of Bath fans there so I'm really looking forward to that," he said.

"Usually when I play there it's 70-odd thousand against me. I love big games and playing in front of a sold out Twickenham will be brilliant for us."

Andy Nicol
Former Scotland and Bath scrum-half on BBC Radio 5 Live

This is a massive game for Finn Russell today.

He did well in the final of the Challenge Cup in Cardiff but this is it.

If he steers Bath to victory today, that'll go a long way to cement him in the number 10 jersey for the Lions in a few weeks time but he's up against a double World Cup-winning stand-off.

It's not just England, there's an international flavour which means the quality is just increased all the time.

Image source, Getty Images

Bath captain Ben Spencer says his team are a different beast than the one that went into the final against Northampton 12 months ago, thanks to a culture brought in by head of rugby Johann van Graan and more experience playing in major finals.

They topped the table from the end of October to the conclusion of the league phase, and claimed silverware in the Premiership Rugby Cup in February and European Challenge Cup last month.

"Everyone feels different, this group's been through enough now and played in enough big games to know how the week needs to feel and look," Spencer said.

"It's taken a lot of hard work from the group, that's one huge thing that Johann brought in was turning hope into belief and this group believes now and believes we can win big games."

Image source, Getty Images

Head of rugby Johann van Graan has backed his Bath players to think on their feet and adapt to whatever Leicester throw at them at Twickenham this afternoon.

Bath go into the final as favourites, having beaten Tigers 43-15 when they met in the league four weeks ago.

"Our process is something that's worked well for us so we're going to stick to what we do," boss Van Graan told BBC Radio Bristol.

"What this playing group has become exceptional at is problem solving on the pitch and as we had in last season's final - and I'm sure it'll happen in this final - you've got to solve problems on the go. That's the sign of a good team.

"Whatever the final brings we'll adapt."

Sophie Hurcom
BBC Sport at Allianz Stadium Twickenham

We're around 35 minutes to kick-off and a handful of players from both teams are out on the pitch warming-up.

Leicester fly-half Handre Pollard is already practicing his kicking from the tee, taking a variety of shots at the posts from across the 10-metre line and winger Ollie Hassell-Collins is jumping to collect a number of high balls.

At the other end, Bath stalwart Tom Dunn is jogging around half of the pitch perimeter, waving to fans as he goes as Ben Spencer runs throwing a few passes to one of the team coaches.

The stadium is slowly filling up with fans but there's still a lot more to come in with today's match being a sell-out.

Image source, Getty Images

The weeks leading up to Tigers' attempt to secure a record-extending 12th Premiership title have been dominated by the impending mass exodus of star figures.

Living Leicester legends Ben Youngs (pictured with head coach Michael Cheika) and Dan Cole, as well as decorated former England team-mate Mike Brown, will retire at full-time.

Cheika's one-year stint at the helm will end too, in what is also a farewell match for captain Julian Montoya and two-time World Cup-winning South Africa fly-half Handre Pollard.

While the head coach is flying his wife and children over for the Twickenham decider, he insists romanticising about leaving Leicester with the Premiership trophy in hand will not help their cause this week.

"We want to win for everyone," Cheika said.

"That title is no more important to them [the departing players] than it is for the other guys, or the guys that don't play, or the support team, or the crowd.

"It's a club, mate, and we are all part of the club. I don't think they would be upset with me for saying that. It's not about that, it's about us together."

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester full-back Freddie Steward says the impending departure of key players has united the Tigers in much the same way as it did three years ago when the then 21-year-old helped them dramatically overcome Saracens in the end-of-season showpiece.

"There are these sub-plots that galvanise a team and bring your team together," he said.

"We've obviously got Dan Cole and Ben Youngs retiring, Julian Montoya and Handre Pollard are off and they are lads that are a massive part of this team.

"You almost want to do it even more for them. You do it for the fans, the coaches and your family but more so than ever this season, it is for each other as well.

"We want to give those lads a send-off and you can probably see in the back-end of the season the difference that has made.

"The lads are fighting harder than ever and there is like a desperate-ness to want to be there at Twickenham. And yeah, we will get a shot."

Image source, Getty Images

No matter the outcome today, an era will end for Leicester Tigers this afternoon.

Ben Youngs, a five-time Premiership winner with Tigers, and Dan Cole, who has four league crowns on his own CV, will both retire at full-time.

They go out together as the two most capped men in English international history.

Their long-time England team-mate Mike Brown - a two-time Premiership winner with Harlequins who has been at Tigers since early 2023 – will also bow out at the same time.

Captain Julian Montoya will also leave the East Midlands side, as will two-time World Cup-winning South African fly-half Handre Pollard and decorated head coach Michael Cheika.

England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet, who has been Youngs' successor for club and country, says it has "100% been an element" that has spurred them on.

"It's not been something that we have really said out loud much, we don't say it before games, but we all know," he told BBC Radio Leicester.

"We look at each other and go 'right, it's their last dance'.

"You have got legends there, two especially, that you properly want to do it for because they deserve it for what they have given to the club and the fans.

"They deserve a proper send-off with a win and a trophy. It is something that has gone unsaid, but I definitely feel part of it and I'm sure a lot of the boys do as well."