 Simpson-Daniel is one of the best broken-field runners in England |
Saturday's Guinness Premiership final is a very modern beast, the clash of styles which tears up the rule book.
The stereotype says it will be Leicester's power against Gloucester's �lan, but this is not a case of a team playing 10-man rugby taking on a glorified sevens outfit.
Both teams are capable of mixing and matching their styles as required, although, as Gloucester boss Dean Ryan says, Leicester have more options in that regard.
You don't get to be leading try scorers in the Premiership regular season by sticking it up your jumper for 80 minutes.
And although they may have reverted to a tighter game in their semi-final win over Bristol on Saturday, the modern Tigers offer a threat all round the park.
"We know it's going to be a hugely physical game and if we can't match them on that we will lose," Gloucester centre James Simpson-Daniel told BBC Sport.
 | We're not there yet but it would be nice to come out of it saying that we were the best team in England this year Gloucester centre James Simpson-Daniel |
"At the same time we're expecting the unexpected in their moves. "People are probably saying that we throw it around more, while they're a bit more direct.
"But looking at the analysis, and we've looked at all the analysis, their backs have done a huge amount of plays this season."
Still, there is a big difference in the way the two backlines operate.
Alesana Tuilagi, Seru Rabeni and Dan Hipkiss are as happy running through the opposition as around them, while Gloucester tend to be more elusive in their approach.
Gloucester's own battering ram, Mike Tindall, is injured and the likes of Simpson-Daniel and the 20-year-olds Ryan Lamb and Anthony Allen will not be bullying the Tigers into submission.
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"You've got to play to your strengths," said 24-year-old Simpson-Daniel.
"For example, if I'm playing 13 (outside centre) I might not try and run over someone the way Mike Tindall can.
"We like to move the ball through hand, as they do, but at the same time I'm not going to charge at Tuilagi head on and expect to come out better."
Tuilagi - the 18-stone behemoth who carries the ball in a manner similar to the legendary Jonah Lomu in his prime.
Nominally a winger, Leicester like to spring him through the middle like a bull scattering the crowd in Pamplona.
So, when you're giving away the best part of four stone, how do you go about stopping him?
 Simpson-Daniel showed Lomu a clean set of heels back in 2002 |
"You've got to put your tackles in - it's quite simple," said Simpson-Daniel, who stressed there is no point trying to take the Samoan around his barrel-like chest.
"Leg tackles, chop him down and hope that he stays down. If you can assist someone and make it a two-man tackle then you try and do that also."
Gloucester, behind the pack at least, may not be a match for the Tigers in terms of size but they have plenty of weapons of their own, not least in their ability to read the game.
Simpson-Daniel, Lamb and Allen are all gifted runners and play-makers, while scrum-half Peter Richards offers a constant threat from the base of the scrum.
But Simpson-Daniel believes that, whatever happens on Saturday, we are just at the start of something special from a young Gloucester side.
"We've put ourselves in this position and we'll find on Saturday night, 'are we there?'" he said.
"Yes, I think we can do it. We need one more big performance but at the same time, if we do that, it won't make us the complete package by any means.
"We're not there yet but it would be nice to come out of it saying that we were the best team in England this year.
"It's going to be a very hard day at the office. I'll be gutted if we lose and we just have to put everything into it."
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Interview: Gloucester's Peter Richards
