As a Bristol based sports photographer, travelling up to a sold-out Allianz Stadium, Twickenham for the Gallagher PREM Final felt like a real career highlight. The biggest match in the English domestic rugby calendar, Northampton Saints against Exeter Chiefs, with the title on the line. For any rugby photographer, this is the fixture you want in your diary.

From Bristol to Twickenham

I have spent a lot of this season photographing rugby across Bristol and the South West, from local league games to Prem Rugby fixtures.

So stepping out at Twickenham for a final was a different scale entirely. A packed house, the Gallagher Way fanzone buzzing outside, and a pitch surrounded by photographers all chasing the same defining moments. The pressure is not just to get a usable frame, it is to capture the images that tell the story of a champion being crowned.

You feel that the moment you walk out pitch side.

The Game Itself

A proper final, full of tension and drama.

Exeter arrived as the fairytale story, and they did not come to make up the numbers. They led at points and threw everything at Northampton, with the lead changing hands and yellow cards adding to the chaos. For long spells it was anyone's game.

But Northampton found another gear in the final quarter. George Hendy scored twice in the space of four minutes to pull the Saints clear, and they held on to win 26-17 and lift their second Gallagher PREM title in three years.

For sports photography, it had everything. Tries, big collisions, raw emotion, and a trophy lift at the end.

Reading the Game

Shooting a final is as much about anticipation as reaction.

It is the same discipline I bring to rugby photography week in, week out around Bristol. With a player like Henry Pollock on the field, eventually named Gallagher Player of the Match, you learn quickly to keep the lens trained on the players most likely to make something happen. Position matters. So does knowing the flow of a game and sensing when a try is coming.

When Hendy crossed in those crucial minutes, being in the right place made the difference between a frame and the frame.

The Moments That Matter

Finals are won and lost in seconds, and the same is true of the images.

The celebrations, the dejection on the losing side, the confetti, the captain lifting the trophy. These are the photographs that last beyond the final whistle, and they only happen once. There is no second chance to capture a title being won.

That is the part I love most about days like this, whether it is a Gallagher PREM Final or a club fixture back home in Bristol.

The Twickenham Factor

Allianz Stadium adds something you cannot replicate at club level.

The noise, the colour, the sheer number of people, all of it feeds into the images. When Northampton sealed the win, the reaction in the stands and on the pitch said everything about what the day meant.

Looking Back

Walking away from Twickenham, this felt like a real highlight of my season.

Covering a Gallagher PREM Final is a privilege, and it is the kind of assignment I want more of as a Bristol sports photographer. If you are looking for professional rugby or sports photography in Bristol and across the UK, I would love to hear from you.