So after everything the Premiership final will be contested between the two teams that finished the regular season at the top. On May 31 it'll be Saints v Saracens going for the title and, based on today's game and last night's, it'll be one hell of a heavy-hitting contest. You have to feel bad for Quins here, who gave it everything and probably created just as much as Saracens, only to be stretched to breaking point on a scorching hot day. On the plus side, it means that Danny Care and Mike Brown will be available to Stuart Lancaster from the start of the All Blacks tour.

Thanks very much for reading. Have a lovely evening.

78 min Lovely kick over the top by Evans and Botica collects it, running up to halfway. Billy V tracks back though and drags him down with a fantastic tackle. It's been an incredibly tight match, but I reckon Saracens' superior fitness has told out. I suppose that's what a massive squad of international signings will buy you that.

77 min Good disruptive work at the lineout by Quins and, although Saracens still have the ball, they're not going anywhere with it fast. They turn it over and Smith looks to dart upfield but Saracens' defence is too strong.

75 min Farrell off, Hodgson on and Lambert concedes yet another scrum penalty. Hodgson kicks the penalty into the corner and Sarries will be looking to go out with a bang.

74 min ... aaaaaaand... aaaaaaand... gets it. Eventually. From 17-11 down at the break, Saracens are winning this half 20-0 and it's Saracens 31-17 Harelquins with six minutes to play.

73 min Saracens win another penalty 37m as Quins' hooker pops up out of the scrum. Farrell lines up what should be a game-killing kick and...

70 min Harlequins get the penalty at the scrum this time! Evans clears his lines. There's still just enough time for them to turn this game around, but you'd say given how run off their feet they have been it's unlikely. Care goes bursting through but is called back for a forward pass from Evans in midfield.

69 min Another player in his final home game, Steve Borthwick, is coming off to be replaced by Sheriff.

68 min OK Monye and Brown are off, Dickson and Buchanan on, with Care moving to the wing and the replacement hooker, er... this is confusing. I'm not sure even Quins know who's playing where here. Collier, the replacement tight-head in the Quins pack, drives across at the scrum and is penalised. Another scrum and it smashes Quins once again.

67 min Ashton gets the ball from a scrum and clips it down the touchline. Brown goes across to cover it and runs it out, but he's limping badly and I think his hamstring has gone. Surely he's going to go off now? Stuart Lancaster will be having babies. Monye is also going to go off, which is a problem as Sam Smith and Ben Botica are both already on.

66 min Quins are looking to attack from deep here but it's all very disjointed. A pass finally goes wide to set Monye away but it went forwards. Bad news now as Brown is down and looking in quite some pain. Matt Stevens departs the pitch at Allianz Park for the final time, replaced by Johnstone. Brown is OK by the looks of things.

64 min Painful as it may be for some to consider the idea, Ashton for England? That's his 19th try of the season in all competitions and it's fair to suggest he's back to his best form.

61 min Oooh this is a lovely break from Brits who is, lest we forget, a front row! He receives the pass in midfield around 42m out and cuts a swathe through the Harlequins defence on the angle, before offloading . It's passed along the line but the final pass to Strettle goes forwards. Quins on the ropes now.

60 min Dave Strettle has concussion, we suspect, and has been replaced by Chris Wyles. Saracens are hammering Quins' line now with their blitz defence and the away side are looking shattered.

59 min This is a good move from Saracens, which begins when Brits takes a high ball. Bosch makes a break up to the 22 but they're turned over. Care's clearance is charged down and it falls back to Bosch. He runs straight at the referee who moves out of the way and creates a gap for the centre to run through and jink over the line! But, after a long deliberation, the TMO notes that he was a metre in front of the ball at the charge down and as such offside. No try!

56 min Wallace runs into Farrell, who was chasing his own kick, off the ball and barges him over. It's a stupid thing to do because the penalty is from where the ball landed, 45m out, slightly to the right and well within range for Owen Farrell. It's a much better kick, through it goes and it's Saracens 21-17 Harlequins.

54 min It's Quins who are making the sloppy mistakes now, Robson dropping the ball at a lineout. It wasn't a good try to concede either, with Evans – I think – missing another tackle.

50 min Ooh! Evans puts a cross-field kick kick behind Ashton and the ball just beats Monye to the touchline. Saracens take a quick throw and Bosch fumbles it, then Care fires a long-range drop goal attempt against the post and Saracens clear. Strettle chases it down well and Care clears from down in the right-hand corner, but it stays in play and Saracens come back. They get a penalty and Farrell pokes it into the corner. Whew!

49 min A poor pass from Farrell rolls along the ground in midfield and Brits, twisted around in the tackle, throws a pass forwards. It's all starting to get a bit sloppy from Saracens and they concede a free kick at the scrum.

47 min The ball is moved upfield and Harlequins win another scrum on the left near halfway. It's the home side who are asserting their set-piece authority though and they win a penalty against the head, with Sinckler driving across apparently. Bosch takes the kick but it's yet another miss from a long way out. These missed kicks could well come back to hurt Sarries.

44 min Saracens fans think they should have a scrum on the 22 here. Monye catches a high kick and is both wrapped and held up by the tacklers. As it was from a kick, the scrum goes Quins' way, but Monye did have an absolute age on the ball. As it is, Wayne Barnes reckons it's Quins' ball.

43 min Oh this is a bad miss, 15m out just to the right and Farrell drags his kick across the goal and wide.

42 min Penalty to Saracens from the maul at the lineout. Also isn't Chris Ashton a pleasant fellow?

41 min We are back underway. I can't call this, but if Quins are going to keep ahead here then they're going to have to play out of their skins I reckon. It's an inauspicious start to the second half though as Brown slices a kick straight into touch after the ball was taken back into the 22. Sarries have a lineout on the right, 10m out, with a full 15-man roster.

There was a question over whether or not Mike Brown grounded that one properly and I didn't see a replay. This makes it look pretty clear that he did, mind.

Football fans! There's some sort of match on later today apparently. Paul Doyle has all the FA Cup final build-up right here.

That is half time. It's tighter than Robert Plant's jeans so far.

Try to Quins?

39 min Another penalty for an offence at the breakdown against Quins here. It's about 5m inside the Saracens half, wide on the left but the returned Bosch is going to have a crack at goal anyway, because he's a ridiculous kicker. He puts it just wide, but that was a hell of an effort.

34 min We have a scrum now, which means that Jacques Burger is going to have to go off for a little bit to be replaced by former Quins man Jamie Johnstone what with Stevens being in the bin.

31 min You get the feeling that Quins need to score now before Saracens get back to 15 men. Dave Ward, who could well be in the England side for the first Test against the All Blacks if Quins lose this, looks to burrow down the left but he's taken into touch.

30 min Evans looks to make a break out of his own 22. He offloads to his right and Matt Steves stretches out a big meaty mitt and slaps it to the ground. It's a deliberate knock-on, he's off to the sin bin and that's Sarries down to 13 men.

28 min A couple of minutes of kicking back and forth. I might write a Breaking The Law piece on somehow banning this rubbish.

27 min This really annoys me: the club's official Twitter feed being manned by someone who doesn't actually know the laws and clearly wasn't listening when the referee clearly explained his decision. It was your own idiot player's fault for jumping. Not dangerous.

25 min Yellow card coming here for Bosch for a tip tackle, deservedly so. It came after several picks and drives up to the Sarries 22. This should be an easy three points for the man fouled, Evans, but he puts it horribly wide!

24 min Care steps and throws a basketball pass to Robson, which puts the lock through. The ball goes loose on the floor though and Saracens clear it up, before Billy Vunipola throws a wild pass into touch.

22 min Good work by Goode after fielding a long kick from Brown. He runs back up to halfway, flashes the dummy and accelerates through a gap. His forwards go offside at the ruck though, and it's a penalty to Quins.

21 min Marler drops it under no pressure. Saracens aren't competing at all at the lineouts, instead looking to counter Quins by smashing into the ball carriers and knocking them back. It means that Quins' biggest weapon – the Ireland-esque maul – is being neutered and that the half backs are on the back foot. It's a clever tactic because there's no number nine in the Premiership as good off the front foot as Danny Care.

19 min De Kock puts up a high ball to halfway and Brown knocks it on. Saracens recycle and Farrell looks to pop a kick into the corner. Kick tennis ensues interminably, and the whole sequence ends with a Quins lineout on their right, 15m outside the 22.

18 min Farrell slings it through the posts and it's Saracens 6-3 Quins.

16 min I really don't think Brown wanted that ball: he didn't look ready for the quick one after Matthews caught the rebound off the post. Oof this is a hell of a hit from Shinkler on Burger, knocking the flanker backwards. Burger is getting a bit of treatment here but I reckon he might have kinda enjoyed that hit. Off camera, something happens that means Sarries have a penalty wide on the left, 25m out.

15 min Quins go offside at a ruck just inside their own half, in the middle of the field, and Farrell will kick for goal from about 48m. Being dead straight and a warm, windless day, this shouldn't be a problem... oh no it's back off the inside of the post and Brown looks to counter! Monye knocks on though just outside his 22.

14 min Good call from Barnes and the TMO. Shinkler jumped in the air as Brits drove through the tackle causing the prop to pirouette. We'll play on.

13 min Shinkler has jumped in the air as Brits hits him and this looks bad, but it really shouldn't be a card.

12 min Great work from Dave Ward in the Sarries 22 wins the turnover, but Evans is too ambitious and throws a wild pass, which Farrell plucks out. The England 10 sprints down the wing and gives it inside. It's an utter mess now inside the Quins 22, which scrappy ruck following scrappy ruck and then Harlequins win the turnover! It's cleared but we're going to check for a foul tackle on Shinkler.

10 min First scrum here as, from a lineout, there's a double knock-on. It's gone Sarries' way; I'm not sure about that as it looked to me as though Borthwick slapped the ball out of Care's hands. Vunipola picks up from the base of the pack but throws an offload straight to Care. The England scrum-half actually called for the pass from his opponent there, for which Wayne Barnes reprimands him.

8 min From the kick-off Brown slices a clearance into touch and Saracens can attack from the lineout. The big ball-carriers take it up the middle and Quins infringe at the ruck. This is an easy-ish one for Farrell, 30m out slightly to the right and he makes it 3-3. Danny Care looks OK, by the way.

6 min From 37m out on the right, Evans slots the penalty and it's Saracens 0-3 Harlequins.

4 min Penalty to Quins here. From the lineout on the 10m line Quins go for the crash ball with, er, Danny Care. A few phases see the ball move across the pitch before Sarries go offside at the ruck. Danny Care wasn't a good choice for the crash ball and he's hobbling. In fact he's down having treatment on his ankle, which isn't a good sign for Quins or for England.

3 min Care puts a kick over the top and Ashton has to field it around 5m from his own line deep in the corner. Ashton clears well though.

2 min From the lineout de Kock puts up a big box kick, which Monye fields just outside his 22. Jacque Burger takes him out in the air and that's a penalty to Quins, which Evans pops up into the Sarries half. Lineout to Quins around 38m out on the left.

1 min Nick Evans gets things underway. Quins, the last team in England that needs an away kit, are in their away kit.Brown fields a big kick from de Kock and puts a raking kick to touch down the left.

Technology department: my feed of this match is terrible. Don't worry, we'll get through this.

They're playing songs from Les Miserables at Allianz Park. I definitely want Quins to win now. Do you hear the people sing? No, they're being drowned out by crap show tunes. (Crap show tunes is a tautology, yes).

Breaking news: Mouritz Botha is out with an ouch of some sort. Alistair Hargreaves, wearing 19, is in. Eoin Sheriff replaces Hargreaves on the bench.

Robshaw over Burger? No way.

Another argument for Quins comes from Hector Besant: "Farrell better than Nick Evans?! If not for Dan Carter, arguably the best 10 in history, Evans would be approaching 100 NZ caps." Yep, he probably would Hector, and I'd take the Evans of a couple of seasons ago over any other 10 in the Premiership. But he's not been the same player this season and his kicking has been below its usual standard.

"Big claim to make that only 5 and 15 outmatch Sarries today," writes Ed Willmott. "Not a huge Care fan, but he's playing out of his skin at the moment. Northampton could have used a Care last night! His quick delivery, sniping guard position and control of the line makes him probably the best 9 in the prem at the minute. Dickson is a very close second though." Yep that's a good shout Ed, I missed that one.

I also know Ed used to play scrum-half, so he has some idea what he's talking about. Admittedly he played for the only team I ever scored against.

That is a remarkably strong looking Sarries team. There's international experience running through it and dripping down on to the bench, and I'm not quite sure Quins will be able to cope with that kind of firepower – indeed in European rugby it's probably only Toulon and Leinster who can. Man-for-man, I reckon Quins are stronger at 15 and 5, but that's it.

Preamble

Afternoon folks. In a sense, this is it for Saracens. After years of buying a load of world-class players and doing brilliantly to stay within the salary cap hard work, you get the feeling that this close-season is it: the greatest opportunity they ever have had or perhaps will have to finally convince everyone that they are among the very best clubs of the professional era. It's not been easy. They've ditched the negative rugby for which they've been criticised in the past and they no longer have the thoroughly unlikeable Brendan Venter on the touchlines, but still many rugby fans refuse to admire them. There's the naked ambition that often manifests itself as arrogant and self-important. There are the millions artificially plundered into the club, Man City-esque, something that rugby's traditionalists aren't used to. There's the way they conducted themselves in the row with Northampton over Soane Tonga'huia a few years back. There are questions over their use of the salary cap. There is Chris Ashton.

The number of ones that Saracens and their fans will give about the above is zero. In the past six years they've risen from a moneyed mid-table team that the big clubs didn't take seriously into one that's on the verge of the Premiership and Heineken Cup double. They do have the small matter of Toulon standing in their way in Europe, and they haven't made a Premiership final since 2011, but this side is probably the best Saracens have ever had and they are in mighty good form.

Such is Sarries' form that many observers seem to have forgotten that they actually have an opponent today. Harlequins have been patchy this season but seem to have got their act together as the weather has warmed. Their reward for the timing of their form was to snatch the final play-off spot from Bath on the final day of the regular season and, judging by the comments coming out The Stoop, they're confident that this good run of form can see them upset the apple cart today. Even if it does turn out that Saracens are just too good for them (as I suspect might be the case), we can be certain that the likes of Danny Care, Joe Marler and Chris Robshaw are not just turning up to be meat in the room today.

The prize on offer today is a trip to Twickenham, where they will face one hell of an onslaught from Northampton. The Saints beat Leicester for the first time in ten matches last night despite having been reduced to 14 men and the feeling at Franklin's Gardens is that this year they can make up for last year's final heartbreak and beat all comers. After the way they laid siege to the bodies on Leicester's line last night, perhaps it's not such a tempting prize on offer after all? But then that's a matter for another week.

Here are the teams. Kick-off is at 2pm.

Saracens

Goode; Ashton, Bosch, Barritt, Strettle; Farrell, de Kock; Vunipola, Brits, Stevens, Borthwick, Botha, Brown, Burger, Vunipola.
Replacements: George, Barrington, Johnston, Hargreaves, Wray, Wigglesworth, Hodgson, Wyles.

Harlequins

Brown; Williams, Molenaar, Turner-Hall, Monye; Evans, Care; Marler, Ward, Sinckler, Matthews, Robson, Wallace, Robshaw, Easter.
Replacements: Buchanan, Lambert, Collier, Kennedy, Guest, Dickson, Botica, Smith.

Referee: TV celebrity Wayne Barnes.

Dan will be here shortly.