By ML
May 27 2014

Greene King IPA Championship final, London Welsh v Bristol Rugby, Wednesday May 28th, KO 19:45

After a long and thoroughly entertaining season, two games over the course of the next eight days will determine whether it is London Welsh or Bristol Rugby who win the Greene King IPA Championship title - and with it promotion back to the Aviva Premiership.

Both have graced the top flight before, Bristol for many years with distinction until their fall five years ago while Welsh have had a brief taste, in 2012/13, and want more.

As the top two sides from the regular season, few people would dispute that Bristol, the best attacking side in the competition, and London Welsh, who boast the best defence, are fitting finalists.

History points to a tight first leg, at the Kassam Stadium, kick-off 19:45pm live on Sky Sports, with tries few and far between in three of the four previous finals. International referee Wayne Barnes will officiate proceedings in Oxford.

The inaugural final between champions Exeter and Bristol in 2009/10 produced a try-less first leg, with three penalties from the boot of Gareth Steenson to two from Adrian Jarvis handing the Chiefs the initiative.

Worcester managed to cross Cornish Pirates' line twice in winning 21-12 in the first leg at the Mennaye Field before going on to finish the job a week later in a more expansive encounter at Sixways.

London Welsh bucked the trend in the third Championship final away to Cornish Pirates, coming away from the Duchy with a 16-point advantage after outscoring their hosts four tries to three.

Last year's showpiece between Bedford Blues and Newcastle was an altogether cagier affair first up, with all the points in an 18-9 win for the Falcons coming from kicks at goal. Jimmy Gopperth was on target with six penalties while Myles Dorrian converted two and Jake Sharp a third for the Blues.

In each of the last three finals, the away side has won the first leg and gone on to win the title.

London Welsh:
15. Seb Stegmann, 14. Rhys Crane, 13. Tom May (C), 12. Seb Jewell
11. Nick Scott, 10. Gordon Ross, 9. Chris Cook
1. Nathan Trevett, 2. Nathan Morris, 3. Peter Edwards, 4. Will Spencer
5, Matt Corker, 6. Peter Browne, 7. Carl Kirwan, 8. Daniel Browne.

Replacements:
16. Nathan Vella, 17. Tom Bristow, 18. James Tideswell, 19. Ben West
20. Richard Thorpe, 21, Rob Lewis, 22. Alan Awcock.

Bristol
Jack Wallace; George Watkins, Jack Tovey, Ben Mosses
Andy Short; Nicky Robinson, Luke Baldwin
Kyle Traynor, Ross Johnston, Jason Hobson, Ben Glynn
Glen Townson, Nick Koster, Marco Mama, Ryan Jones (c).

Replacements:
Rhys Lawrence, James Hall, Mitch Eadie, Ben Skirving
Ruki Tipuna, Adrian Jarvis, Adam Hughes.

Past Championship Finals

2009/10
Exeter Chiefs 9 Bristol Rugby 6
Bristol Rugby 10 Exeter Chiefs 29

2010/11
Cornish Pirates 12 Worcester Warriors 21
Worcester Warriors 25 Cornish Pirates 20

2011/12
Cornish Pirates 21 London Welsh 37
London Welsh 29 Cornish Pirates 20

2012/13
Bedford Blues 9 Newcastle Falcons 18
Newcastle Falcons 31 Bedford Blues 24

2013/14 Greene King IPA Championship final
London Welsh v Bristol Rugby, Wednesday May 28, KO 1945
Bristol Rugby v London Welsh, Wednesday June 4, KO 1945

Both fixtures will be broadcast live on Sky Sports HD