It was a taxing season for Leicester even before the taxi exploits of Manu Tuilagi, but the Tigers are, as usual, in the play-offs – if for once grateful to their east Midlands rivals Northampton who, having already ensured they would finish first in the table and enjoy home advantage on Saturday, sent a weakened, rather than weak, team to the Tigers’ lair.
The scoreline was closer than the contest, Northampton fading in the second half as the referee took issue with their scrummaging. They have led the table for the whole season, but, in a virtual reserve side, their props were Alex Corbisiero and Salesi Ma’afu, who were very much first choice at the start of the campaign. It showed how the scrum has become an issue for the Saints to the point where it seems to be the greatest barrier between the club and a second successive Premiership title.
They lost their two tight-head props to the sin-bin in two minutes in the third quarter and they also suffered in the set piece against Saturday’s play-off opponents, Saracens, when the sides met at Milton Keynes last month. That game turned when Corbisiero and Ma’afu were replaced and the loss of the latter at the end of the season has turned from a blow into a blessing.
The play-off between Northampton and Saracens is a repeat of last season’s final, which Saints won in the final seconds of extra time, while the one that follows it has Leicester travelling to Bath, where they lost 45-0 in September. That was not quite their season’s nadir as they were to be thumped a few weeks later by a club nowhere near the top four, Gloucester, but they have fought their way back redoubtably; eight wins in their final nine Premiership matches being enough to pip Exeter and make Bath feel slightly twitchy.
Victory against Leicester is never to be assumed and they were the only one of the play-off contenders who knew what they had to do on the final day of the regular season: win.
Northampton’s decision to field virtually a reserve team – only Lee Dickson and Ma’afu had held down starting positions regularly this season – on a ground where they had not won in the league since 2007, suggested a routine home victory, but the rivalry runs deep.
Northampton led at half-time, three penalties from James Wilson trumping one from Freddie Burns and a rolling maul try for Jordan Crane, but it was largely a tame encounter considering the fixture had produced nine yellow cards and two red in the past four league meetings between the sides, as well as a citing for gouging.
A scuffle between Corbisiero and Crane was as hot as it got in the opening period, but within 12 minutes of the restart Northampton were down to 13 men and 10 points behind after conceding a number of scrum penalties near their own line. Ma’afu was responsible for three of them and was promptly replaced by Gareth Denman as the referee, Matthew Carley, checked to see where his yellow card was.
Denman’s first task was to set himself at a defending five-metre scrum with Leicester continuing to opt for a set piece rather than three points. The scrum went down and Denman joined Ma’afu for 10 minutes’ reflection on technique, but perception is everything. Leicester’s front row had popped up out of a retreating scrum at the end of the first half but play carried on and at his first scrum, the home replacement Marcos Ayerza dropped his elbow to the floor only for Ma’afu to be penalised moments following the Saints being blown after their front row had stood up at a scrum.
Leicester, who have struggled to take play to opponents all season, won the match in the 10 minutes when they enjoyed a two-man advantage. Burns kicked his second penalty as Ma’afu trudged off and the full-back, Niall Morris, broke Ahsee Tuala’s weak tackle to score near the corner, extend his side’s lead to 13 points and take the game beyond the Saints.
Northampton did have the last word with Tom Stephenson’s try, but only after Tommy Bell had kicked a penalty one minute after replacing Burns, who left the field for treatment having injured his shoulder in a tackle.
With Owen Williams out for the season, Leicester will be monitoring their outside-half closely in the next few days, even if he is yet to show the fluency and devil that made him a favourite at Gloucester. “Freddie will play,” said Leicester’s director of rugby, Richard Cockerill.
“Never mind what Bath did to us in September, they know they will be in for a battle. We have a dressing room full of players with big-match experience and we are mentally fresh. We know we can go there and win.”
