Final set for record crowd

Harlequins and Newcastle look like setting a crowd record in the Tetley's Bitter Cup Final at Twickenham on Saturday with England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson the draw card to pull in several thousand extra fans.

Wilkinson will be back at Twickenham a week after scoring 35 points for England against Italy and this time will be in Newcastle's colours as they make their second appearance in the Final in two years.

Newcastle have sold 10,000 tickets and are bringing 55 coachloads of fans. Quins expect to sell 18,000 tickets and this morning the figure for the eventual crowd stood at 63,000. That exceeds the past two Finals and could soon challenge the 70,000 top crowd of 1997.