LEICESTER TIGERS 37 – 17 NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
Leicester Tigers achieved a record 10th Premiership title on Saturday with a hard-fought but well-deserved victory against Northampton Saints, in front of a sell-out crowd at Twickenham.
After falling short in the previous two finals, the Tigers truly rose to this occasion, putting on a display of great class and skill in a high velocity, high impact match in which Northampton captain Dylan Hartley was sent off for verbal abuse.
From the very beginning, several Leicester players were quick to prove their worth ahead of the impending British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, with Tom Croft leading by example at the breakdown and Ben Youngs probing the Saints defence for the smallest gaps.
After 5 minutes, Toby Flood opened the scoring with a straightforward penalty from an offside infringement. Then, just a couple of minutes later, Leicester exploited an overlap to play in Niall Morris, who stormed down the right wing to score in the corner, which Flood duly converted to make it 10-0.
Northampton were not deterred and began to play with the same intensity and improvised offence that secured their surprise semi-final win against Saracens. Their aggression soon paid off, as scrum-half Lee Dickson broke the gain line quickly from a penalty and before Leicester’s defence could regroup, he found Stephen Myler, who touched down at the far left corner.
Myler failed to convert, but Northampton remained on the offensive. Ben Foden and Jamie Elliott produced scintillating counter attacks, although ill discipline at the breakdown prevented the Saints from completing a number of golden chances.
The first controversial incident of the match occurred when Saints lock Courtney Lawes smashed Toby Flood to the ground with a very late tackle, leaving the Tigers fly-half dazed. Flood continued on, only to be hammered with a similarly ferocious tackle by Lawes minutes later, forcing him to be replaced by youngster George Ford.
Ford extended Leicester’s lead on the half hour mark with a penalty kick, but soon afterwards, Northampton almost closed the gap when brilliant play amongst the backs enabled Foden to cross the line. However, the try was disallowed after the TMO ruled that the ball had been held-up by a Tigers defender.
Then, just before half-time, the Saints were hit by a total game-changer. Believing that the end of the half was seconds away, Stephen Myler kicked the ball into touch from a 22 metre restart, but referee Wayne Barnes awarded Leicester a scrum. Northampton were then penalised at the scrum and hooker Dylan Hartley was dismissed with a straight red card for allegedly verbally abusing the referee. Ford scored the resulting penalty and the half-time score was left at 16-5.
Despite this setback, if Northampton had been severely affected by Hartley’s sending-off, it certainly didn’t show at the start of the second half, as they launched another dynamic attack. Only three minutes in, James Wilson supplied Ben Foden in space, and this time, there was no doubt that the Saints full-back had grounded the ball.
Leicester bounced back almost immediately, though, with the combined force of Anthony Allen and powerhouse Manu Tuilagi in midfield helping to Leicester to move deep into the Northampton half. On the 22 metre line, the ball found its way to lock Graham Kitchener, who sold a perfect dummy pass to create a hole in the defence and then burst through for a try.
George Ford missed the conversion, but was on target shortly before the hour mark with a penalty, taking the scoreline to 24-10. However, the match continued its end-to-end momentum as Northampton went on the offensive once again. Recent England call-up Luther Burrell made a fantastic break and offloaded to Lee Dickson for the Saints’ third try, which Stephen Myler successfully converted to close the gap to seven points.
Unfortunately for Northampton, fatigue had started to set in, with the strain of playing with a man down evidently taking its toll. Leicester’s centre partnership of Allen and Tuilagi continued to create opportunities, and eventually, it was Tuilagi’s solo effort that added another five points, as he first used his strength to break one tackle and then used an incredible turn of pace to run in unopposed for a try.
The Saints desperately tried to rejuvenate their side, making five substitutions in as many minutes, but it simply wasn’t enough to halt the rampaging Tigers. Leicester put the scoreline out of sight when replacement flanker Steve Mafi, on his first touch of the ball, burst down the left wing and threw inside for Fijian international Vereniki Goneva to score his side’s fourth try of the day.
Ford scored yet another penalty on the 80th minute and the Tigers commenced their jubilant celebrations as the referee blew his whistle for a final score of 37-17, adding another piece of deserved silverware to Leicester’s impressive collection.
