ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP FINAL/Leicester 33 Saracens 27:WINNING, MOST winners agree, becomes a habit eventually and Leicester's addiction to silverware remains pathologically intense. It may suit the Tigers to believe everyone hates them but it is impossible not to respect their achievements and mental strength.
Five times they fell behind on the scoreboard in a mesmeric Guinness Premiership final and five times they clawed their way back on top. No side, not even Munster, has ever sent more literate postcards from the edge.
In many ways this success bears comparison with any of the trophies Leicester have won. They have not secured back-to-back titles since the play-off system was introduced in 2002-03 and coach Richard Cockerill has had to contend with several potentially season-wrecking problems.
The sub-plot of long-term injuries to Geordan Murphy, Aaron Mauger, Richard Blaze and Harry Ellis, a smaller squad, an early European exit and the imminent departure of loyal servants like Lewis Moody, Ben Kay and Sam Vesty made Saturday’s resilient display even more praiseworthy.
Cockerill thus becomes the first Premiership coach since another ex-hooker, Warren Gatland, to preside over successive title-winning seasons, no small achievement for someone who describes himself “a bit of an arse to work for”.
Saracens could – and probably should – have clung on as they secured a 27-26 lead with three minutes left. If the decision to ban Brendan Venter from the stadium was harsh, his side’s last-gasp defeat was crueller still.
Luck, though, is not a concept which carries much weight in the east Midlands. Under their own posts, Leicester’s decision-makers agreed to send their New Zealand wing Scott Hamilton up to contest the restart, thus requiring Toby Flood to get his drop-kick absolutely right. Both executed their jobs perfectly to help create Dan Hipkiss’s pinball wizard of a try, with Geoff Parling subsequently nipping in to steal Saracens’s last throw. “We’re Leicester mutes and everybody likes to call us that but we work very, very hard,” said Cockerill.
Leicester’s unflinching ethos runs deeper than that. It explains why Bath are prepared to offer Moody a lucrative contract despite the miles on his body clock.
Cockerill believes the departure of Moody, Kay, Vesty and others will simply prompt the Leicester hydra to branch out afresh. Tom Croft, Ben Youngs, Dan Cole and Billy Twelvetrees can carry on the tradition and Geoff Parling’s transformation from Newcastle reserve to England tourist inside 12 months is no coincidence.
This, too, was the day which proved beyond doubt English rugby is in a healthier state than the national team’s results might suggest. To watch Youngs and Alex Goode was to glimpse two young men who possess the talent to win 100 caps apiece.
It was harsh on Goode, Ernst Joubert – the scorer of his side’s two outstanding tries – the retiring Glen Jackson and Hugh Vyvyan to finish on the losing side but slack defending cost Sarries 21 points, most notably when referee Dave Pearson announced he was playing advantage for a high tackle on Hipkiss by Jackson with two minutes left. “I had hands on me but then I felt people stop,” admitted Hipkiss, who required no second invitation to surge over for the crucial score.
LEICESTER: G Murphy; Hamilton, M Smith, Allen, Tuilagi; Flood, B Youngs; Ayerza, Chuter, Castrogiovanni, L Deacon, Parling, Croft, Moody, Crane. Replacements: Hipkiss for M Smith (68 mins), Staunton for Tuilagi (74 mins), Cole for Castrogiovanni (67 mins), Newby for Moody (68 mins).
SARACENS: Goode; Tagicakibau, Powell, Barritt, Wyles; Jackson, de Kock; Aguero, Brits, Du Plessis, Borthwick, Vyvyan, Burger, Saull, Joubert. Replacements: Ratuvou for Tagicakibau (57 mins), Marshall for de Kock (65 mins), Gill for Aguero (49 mins), Botha for Borthwick (45 mins), Melck for Saull (65 mins). Referee: Dave Pearson (RFU).
