Tigers punch out Saints
Leicester remain on course for a hat-trick of Premiership titles after a hard-fought 11-3 semi-final win over Northampton.
Last Updated: 15/05/11 12:59pm
Leicester remain on course for a hat-trick of Premiership titles after a hard-fought 11-3 semi-final win over Northampton.
Winger Alesana Tuilagi's try with just less than 10 minutes to go finally settled a ferocious East Midlands derby at Welford Road.
Toby Flood had kicked the home side into a 3-0 lead at the break after a first half that saw both Leicester's Manu Tuilagi and Chris Ashton of Northampton sin-binned, the former being fortunate not to see red for a serious right hook.
Although Stephen Myler did kick the visitors level, the Tigers simply upped the tempo in the second half to take complete charge.
Flood's second penalty edged them back in front and then Tuilagi booked a seventh straight final appearance when he ran over poor Bruce Reihana to dive over in the left corner.
The score sealed yet another trip to Twickenham for the reigning champions, though it remains to be seen if Manu Tuilagi will be available to play against either Saracens or Gloucester on May 28.
Brutal
The two sides were locked in a brutal battle of attrition from the starting whistle but neither could find a way through the barrage of thundering tackles.
Saints hooker Dylan Hartley was pinged within striking distance on 12 minutes for a late hit on Flood, who was lucky not to see the decision reversed after swinging an arm at his England team-mate.
The kick from the fly-half, however, was blown off course in the blustery conditions.
Ashton and Manu Tuilagi were then both sent to the sin-bin on the half-hour mark after Ashton reacted angrily and pushed the centre after being flattened by a late tackle.
Tuilagi's response was to repeatedly punch the rugby league convert in the head in a wholly disproportionate reaction to his earlier shove.
The England wing did well to stay on his feet, such was the force of the blows, and Tuilagi junior was extremely lucky to have escaped an immediate red card from referee Wayne Barnes, who did not see the incident himself.
Territory battle
The first points finally came after 36 minutes when Flood this time used the strong breeze to perfection to land a superb penalty from wide on the left, taking the Tigers into the break holding a slender advantage.
With both sides now restored to full strength, Myler levelled matters five minutes after the restart after flanker Phil Dowson was taken out in the air.
Saints' No.10 showed he too could judge the conditions just right, slotting an excellent penalty over the crossbar on the breeze to make it three apiece.
The Tigers, though, appeared to be winning the territory battle in the second period and as they continued to probe the Northampton defence a breakthrough began to look increasingly likely.
And when, on 59 minutes, the visitors were pinged right under the sticks for not rolling away, Flood wasted no time in calling for the kicking tee to retake the lead with a straightforward three-pointer.
Dominant
Five minutes later the England fly-half was handed an opportunity to add three more when Saints were penalised for not releasing but hooked his 40-metre shot well wide of the target from in front.
A try finally arrived as the game entered its final 10 minutes when the older Tuilagi sibling went over after some excellent work by hooker George Chuter.
Chuter broke wide on the left after Ben Foden had lost the ball close to the half-way line, making good ground before delivering a slick offload that set Tuilagi off down the touchline, the sizeable unit steamrollering veteran winger and former All Black Bruce Reihana on his way to the line.
Flood missed the conversion but, with Leicester so completely dominant and now holding that vital eight-point buffer with only minutes on the clock, there was to be no way back for Saints.
While Northampton must now lift themselves for next week's Heineken Cup final against Leinster in Cardiff, Leicester are looking forward to yet another trip to rugby HQ as they aim to continue their domestic dominance.