England international hooker Chuter became the first player to reach 250 Premiership appearances in the win over Bath last Saturday which secured a home game in the semi-finals and reaches another personal landmark this weekend.

Ben Youngs, George Skivington and Graham Kitchener return to the Tigers squad after missing last Saturday’s Round 22 victory.

Tigers have reached the semi-final stages of the competition for an eighth successive year and face Saracens in a repeat of the last two Premiership Finals.

Tickets for Saturday’s game are available now from the Tigers ticket office. Call in at Welford Road or the Club Store in Market Street, Leicester, or phone the hotline on 0844 856 1880. Or book online at www.leicestertigers.com

Leicester Tigers

v Saracens, Aviva Premiership Rugby semi-final, Welford Road, Saturday 5.30pm

15 Geordan Murphy (c)
14 Horacio Agulla
13 Manusamoa Tuilagi
12 Anthony Allen
11 Alesana Tuilagi
10 Toby Flood
9 Ben Youngs
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 George Chuter
3 Dan Cole
4 George Skivington
5 Geoff Parling
6 Steve Mafi
7 Julian Salvi
8 Thomas Waldrom

Replacements
16 Tom Youngs
17 Logovi’i Mulipola
18 Martin Castrogiovanni
19 Graham Kitchener
20 Craig Newby
21 Sam Harrison
22 Billy Twelvetrees
23 Scott Hamilton

In team news ahead of the game, Charlie Hodgson returns to start at fly half with Owen Farrell named at centre for the knockout clash. Will Fraser returns to the starting line-up while Matt Stevens and Carlos Nieto swap places with the England prop starting and Nieto among the replacements.

Chris Wyles moves to the wing with James Short on the bench along with the likes of John Smit, Richard Wigglesworth and Hugh Vyvyan.

Justin Melck has been ruled out after suffering a knee injury in the final minute of the match against Exeter Chiefs last weekend. The flanker underwent surgery on a damaged ACL on Thursday and is set to be ruled out for up to nine months.

“It’s a massive match,” explained Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall. “We’ve had a very good week of preparation but we know it is going to be a very tough game and we will have to be at our best to get the result we want.

“Leicester have a phenomenal semi final record but we have had some excellent performances in recent weeks with wins against London Irish, Newcastle Falcons and Exeter Chiefs so we are really looking forward to the match.”

Saracens line-up vs Leicester Tigers

15 Alex Goode
14 David Strettle
13 Owen Farrell
12 Brad Barritt
11 Chris Wyles
10 Charlie Hodgson
9 Neil de Kock
1 Rhys Gill
2 Schalk Brits
3 Matt Stevens
4 Steve Borthwick ©
5 Mouritz Botha
6 Jackson Wray
7 Will Fraser
8 Ernst Joubert

16 Jamie George
17 John Smit
18 Carlos Nieto
19 Hugh Vyvyan
20 George Kruis
21 Richard Wigglesworth
22 Adam Powell
23 James Short

It is thought that Ben Youngs will be fit for next Saturday’s Aviva Premiership Rugby semi-final against Saracens.

Scrum-half Youngs missed the Tigers’ final home game of the regular season, a 28-3 win over Bath, with a hamstring injury.

But Leicester Tigers’ Director of Rugby Richard Cockerill thinks that Youngs and his Tigers and England team-mate Toby Flood will both be fit for the showdown with the team they have faced in the last two finals, winning the first and losing the second.

He said: "Ben could have played but we didn’t need to take that risk. Toby, I’m not sure of the extent of his injury, I think it’s an ankle. He could have carried on but there was no point in taking any risks."

Leicester stayed on course for an eighth successive Aviva Premiership Rugby final with a comfortable three-try win which clinched second place, while Saracens finished third after an even better win over Exeter.

The winners of the Leicester-Saracens showdown at Welford Road next Saturday will meet the winners of the other semi-final between Harlequins and Northampton in the final at Twickenham.

In this video Ben Youngs gives his thoughts on the Saracens team and the play offs in general.

Robshaw made his Harlequins debut in January 2006, leading them to the top spot in the Aviva Premiership Rugby league table at the end of the 2011-12 season.

Redhill-born Robshaw captained Millfield before moving to Harlequins. He was educated at Cumnor House School, Surrey, becoming the captain of Harlequins last season.

“This award is richly deserved,” said Harlequins Director of Rugby Conor O’Shea. “What I like about him is that no matter which accolades come his way or what he achieves we all know what comes first with Chris is the team.

“Chris is the sort of guy who’ll never get above himself. For him it is all about the team. He wants nothing more than for the team to be successful.”

This season Robshaw has had a stellar campaign not only leading his club but taking over the England captaincy after the World Cup, leading his side to four victories in five matches during the 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship.

Three of the victories were away from Twickenham and the fourth was the 30-9 win over Ireland at HQ.

Despite leading his country this season, Robshaw has still played an impressive 16 Aviva Premiership Rugby matches for Harlequins. Last season he was ever-present, playing in all 22 Aviva Premiership Rugby fixtures.

The Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Season award isn’t Robshaw’s only accolade from the Aviva Premiership Rugby Awards as he was selected by former England internationals Austin Healey and Ben Kay as captain of the ESPN Dream Team.  Robshaw was joined by Harlequins’ team-mates Mike Brown, George Lowe, Joe Marler, and Nick Easter.

ESPN analysts Healey and Kay picked five Leicester Tigers in their side, two from Northampton Saints, to add to the five Quins, alongside one player from Saracens and two from Exeter Chiefs.

The full team is: Mike Brown (Harlequins); Horacio Agulla (Leicester), George Lowe (Harlequins), George Pisi (Northampton), Alesana Tuilagi (Leicester); Toby Flood (Leicester), Haydn Thomas (Exeter); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Schalk Brits (Saracens), Dan Cole (Leicester), Samu Manoa (Northampton), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) Capt, James Scaysbrook (Exeter) and Nick Easter (Harlequins)

The Land Rover Discovery of the Season award, presented to the best player aged 21 years or under on the day of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final (26 May 2012), was won by Saracens centre Owen Farrell.

The award caps a remarkable couple of seasons for 20-year-old Farrell, who also made his England debut this season.

The final major award, the QBE Director of Rugby of the Season, was presented to Rob Baxter, the man who has been instrumental in one of the game’s great stories of 2011-12.  Baxter led his side into Aviva Premiership Rugby last season and in this campaign has guided the club to fifth in the Aviva Premiership Rugby table and a place in next year’s Heineken Cup.

The MBNA Try of the Season was awarded to Gloucester full-back Jonny May for his stunning strike against Harlequins.

The Aviva Premiership Awards evening began with one of the most famous figures in Aviva Premiership Rugby, Bob Casey, receiving the Aviva Community Player of the Season Award for his tireless work on a number of community projects.

Rob Baxter wasn’t the only Chief to leave with a trophy as Gonzalo Camacho won the Gatorade Game Changer of the Season Award.

To find a winner, Gatorade used a formula devised by Opta Sportsdata, the official Statistics provider of Premiership Rugby, to award players points for things like metres gained, number of carries, turnovers won and tackles made.

Tom Homer had a sensational season, the prolific kicker ending his campaign with 253 points from his boot to win the Gilbert Golden Boot after Jimmy Gopperth had held the trophy for two seasons.

In the try-scoring stakes it was all about Rob Miller as the Sale Shark crossed the line ten times to pick up the Guinness Top Try Scorer of the Season Award.

Concluding the list of award winners was Newcastle’s Luke Fielden who was named the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s Series Player of the Season, as the Falcons lifted the trophy in a pulsating final against Saracens.

The winners and nominees in full were as follows:

Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Season

Winner: Chris Robshaw

Shortlist: Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), James Scaysbrook (Exeter Chiefs), Julian Salvi (Leicester Tigers) and Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)

Land Rover Discovery of the Season

Winner: Owen Farrell

Shortlist: Owen Farrell (Saracens) Jonathan Joseph (London Irish), Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Christian Wade (London Wasps) and Luke Wallace (Harlequins)

QBE Director of Rugby of the Season

Winner: Rob Baxter

Shortlist: Rob Baxter (Exeter Chiefs), Richard Cockerill (Leicester Tigers) and Conor O’Shea (Harlequins)

MBNA Try of the Season

Winner: Jonny May

Shortlist: Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby v Exeter Chiefs), Michael Claassens (Bath Rugby v London Irish), James Downey (Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby v Harlequins), Alesana Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints), Christian Wade (London Wasps v Leicester Tigers), Luke Wallace (Harlequins v London Wasps)      

Gatorade Game Changer of the Season

Winner: Gonzalo Camacho (Exeter Chiefs)

Runners up: Andy Powell (Sale Sharks) – 2nd, Rob Miller (Sale Sharks) – 3rd.

Aviva Community Player of the Season

Winner: Bob Casey

Shortlist: Bob Casey (London Irish), Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints), Will Fraser (Saracens) and James Hudson (Newcastle Falcons)

J.P. Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s Series Player of the Season

Winner: Luke Fielden

Shortlist: Danny Bibby (Sale Sharks), Ross Chisholm (Harlequins), Luke Fielden (Newcastle Falcons) and James Short (Saracens).

Guinness Top Try Scorer

Winner: Rob Miller (Sale Sharks) – 10 tries

Gilbert Golden Boot

Winner: Tom Homer (London Irish) – 253 points

ESPN Dream Team

Mike Brown (Harlequins); Horacio Agulla (Leicester), George Lowe (Harlequins), George Pisi (Northampton), Alesana Tuilagi (Leicester); Toby Flood (Leicester), Haydn Thomas (Exeter); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Schalk Brits (Saracens), Dan Cole (Leicester), Samu Manoa (Northampton), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) Capt, James Scaysbrook (Exeter) and Nick Easter (Harlequins)

Past winners

Premiership Rugby Player of the Season, 2010-11: Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), 2009-10: Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints), 2008-9: Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), 2007-8:  James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby). 2006-7: Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers). 2005-6:  Mike Catt (London Irish) and 2004-5:  Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers).

Young Player of the Season, 2010-11: Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), 2009-10:  Ben Youngs, (Leicester Tigers), 2008-9: Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), 2007-8: Danny Cipriani (London Wasps), 2006-7: Tom Rees (London Wasps), 2005-6: Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers) and 2004-5: Ollie Smith, (Leicester Tigers)

Director of Rugby of the Season, 2010-11: Jim Mallinder (Northampton Saints), 2009-10: Andy Key, (Leeds Carnegie), 2008-9: Richard Cockerill (Leicester Tigers), 2007-8:  Dean Ryan (Gloucester Rugby), 2006-7: Pat Howard (Leicester Tigers), 2005-6: Philippe Saint-Andre (Sale Sharks), 2004-5: and John Wells (Leicester Tigers).

Semi-Final 1:

Harlequins v Northampton Saints – 2.45pm at the Twickenham Stoop – Live on Sky Sports

Semi-Final 2:

Leicester Tigers v Saracens – 5.30pm at Welford Road – Live on ESPN

Current Aviva Premiership Rugby leaders Harlequins lead the way in the shortlist with two players, full-back Mike Brown and captain Chris Robshaw, while Saracens, Leicester Tigers, Gloucester Rugby and Exeter Chiefs are also rewarded with players vying for one of rugby’s top honours.

Leicester Tigers’ flanker Julian Salvi is the only non-England qualified player on the list, joined by Saracens’ centre Brad Barritt, Gloucester Rugby prop Nick Wood and Exeter Chiefs’ flanker James Scaysbrook.

The shortlist was compiled by a panel of media professionals – Miles Harrison (Sky Sports), Alastair Eykyn (BBC 5 Live), Mick Cleary (Daily Telegraph), Ian Stafford (Mail on Sunday), Nick Mullins (ESPN), David Rogers (Getty Images), and Alan Pearey (Rugby World). They were joined by Corin Palmer (Premiership Rugby’s Head of Academies and Development) and Paul Morgan (Premiership Rugby’s Communication Director) who chaired the panel.

“The panel has come up with an incredibly impressive shortlist, which reflects the strength of Aviva Premiership Rugby,” said Premiership Rugby Chief Executive Mark McCafferty.

“It’s great to see players who have emerged from our Academies in what is undoubtedly a world-class list of players. It will be a tough job picking the winner as clearly all six would be a worthy Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Season.”

The winner will be announced on Tuesday 8 May at the sold out Aviva Premiership Rugby Awards at The Hilton, Park Lane. The Awards night will be shown on ESPN.

Gold, who has guided his resurgent Falcons outfit to back-to-back victories over Sale Sharks and Gloucester, is expecting a stern test from the Londoners.

“In the last few weeks we have been in a situation where every game has been a cup final and this week will be no different,” said Gold, who was speaking at yesterday’s shirt launch held at Close House Hotel.

He added: “Saracens will be right up for it as they are playing for a home semi-final and we are playing for Premiership survival.

“The type of style of rugby that they play is incredibly difficult to play against and each player knows exactly what they are doing.

“It has been a tough week in training as we have the Premiership champions coming to town on Friday night. They are very well-drilled and you do not reach two Premiership finals in a row by accident.

“They are incredibly well coached with a good bunch of guys down there – I would go as far as saying that this is our toughest challenge of the season to date, there is no question about that.”

All tickets for the match have been reduced to just £10 adults, £5 juniors and can be snapped up by calling the Falcons Ticket Hotline on 0871 226 6060 or click here to purchase online.

Newcastle: 15 Greg Goosen, 14 Corne Uys, 13 Jamie Helleur, 12 James Fitzpatrick, 11 Ryan Shortland, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Peter Stringer, 1 Jonny Golding, 2 Rob Vickers, 3 Euan Murray, 4 James Hudson, 5 Tim Swinson, 6 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch, 8 Adam Balding

Replacements: 16 Matt Thompson, 17 Grant Shiells, 18 James Hall, 19 James Goode, 20 Taiasina Tu’ifua, 21 Mark Wilson, 22 Chris Pilgrim, 23 Tom Catterick

In team news ahead of the game, Owen Farrell and James Short return to the Saracens starting XV for the penultimate match of regular season.

They are the only changes to the side that won 28-19 at London Irish last weekend. Michael Tagicakibau and Charlie Hodgson both move to the replacement’s bench.

Saracens team vs Newcastle Falcons

15 Alex Goode
14 David Strettle
13 Chris Wyles
12 Brad Barritt
11 James Short
10 Owen Farrell
9 Neil de Kock
1 Rhys Gill
2 Schalk Brits
3 Matt Stevens
4 Steve Borthwick ©
5 George Kruis
6 Jackson Wray
7 Will Fraser
8 Ernst Joubert

16 Jamie George
17 Mako Vunipola
18 Carlos Nieto
19 Mouritz Botha
20 Justin Melck
21 Richard Wigglesworth
22 Charlie Hodgson
23 Michael Tagicakibau

Falcons players Jimmy Gopperth, James Fitzpatrick and Greg Goosen were all on hand to model the new shirt at a media launch held at the picturesque setting of Close House Hotel.

The brand new shirt for the 2012-13 season which is supplied by Tyneside-based sportswear company Orion Teamswear will be worn for the £10 a ticket Saracens match.

The national and local media including Sky Sports News, ESPN and BBC Look North descended on the club’s shirt sponsor Close House to get their first glimpse of the jersey, and get the inside track on the Falcons as Saracens looms large.

As part of the sponsorship arrangement the Children’s Heart Unit Fund (CHUF) features on the back of the shirt.

And children from the CHUF were present at the launch, with director of rugby Gary Gold and his players interacting with them during their media duties.

Gold said: “From a humanitarian point of view we have got CHUF involved and it is great that Newcastle Falcons can get right behind the charity and help the little kids.

“If we can do that by getting the name out there and raise a little bit of money on game day, creating awareness then that would be great.”

South African Gold, who has steered his side to back-to-back victories over Sale Sharks and Gloucester, is appealing for a 10,000 plus crowd under the lights of Kingston Park.

“Ticket sales have been absolutely outstanding so far and there are only a handful of tickets left,” said Gold.

“I am asking the North East people to turn up in their droves and come and support the club at £10 a ticket. We have received outstanding support in recent weeks and that backing is never taken for granted,” he added.

A third straight victory for the northeasterners would put them level on points with London Wasps at the foot of the Premiership tree with the men from the capital travelling to Bath the following day.

The Springbok and Sharks lock forward, 25, said: “Everybody in South African rugby knows there is something special happening at Saracens, and I can’t wait to get stuck in and make a contribution to the continuing development of the club. This is a fantastic opportunity for me at a crucial stage of my rugby career.”

Mark McCall, Director of Rugby, said: “Alistair has a fantastic pedigree in SA Rugby, and we are confident he will flourish in our environment.”