Leicester are perennials in the play-offs but their place in the top four has rarely been in greater jeopardy after a defeat to their title rivals who six days before had been involved in a European quarter-final. The Tigers failed to score a try for the seventh league match this season and while they can expect a bonus point in the next round against doomed London Welsh, their fate will hinge on their final two matches at Wasps, in what is now a Midlands derby, and at home to Northampton in an East Midlands derby that is invariably played at a scalding temperature.
Leicester had recovered from an indifferent start to the season to start the day in fourth position thanks to five consecutive Premiership victories. But they had only won one of their previous five league meetings against Saracens and two in the six before that. Their gameplan was limited, set-pieces and box-kicking, and when they had to attack in the second period after conceding three tries in eight minutes, they lacked the cutting edge of a butter knife.
Saracens were looking to reclaim second place from Bath but they were, in a match that was sandwiched between two European Champions Cup ties in France, less alert than the Tigers who started by putting boot to ball and applying pressure through constriction. When Sarries did break loose, they invariably made an unforced error, slower to react than opponents who had had the previous weekend off on a day when their Champions Cup semi-final opponents next Saturday, Clermont Auvergne, lost at home to Oyonnax.
The scruffiness of the match, which was played in sunshine that was accompanied by a blustery wind, suited Leicester who hauled themselves back into play-off contention through bloody-mindedness and grit. They established early supremacy up front, stole a lineout, plundered the breakdown through Julian Salvi and established an early lead through two penalties that Freddie Burns, who a few months ago was on a road marked nowhere, confidently converted into points.
Saracens kept looking for width despite their many handling errors: Chris Wyles, Kelly Brown and Alex Goode all made clean breaks that ended with Leicester salvaging the ball and kicking downfield, but it was the home side who led at the break after dominating the final five minutes of the opening period. When Chris Ashton was freed on the right, Sarries for once made something of the opening, but when the wing tried to loop infield after passing the ball he was impeded by Tom Youngs, who was sent to the sin-bin.
Saracens had missed two penalties, Marcelo Bosch, who won the match against Racing Métro with a kick into the wind in the final minute, misjudging the breeze before Goode hit the right-hand post from virtually in front. They had a resigned air but Youngs’ indiscipline gave them a way in: they used the penalty to establish a position in the Leicester 22.
Three scrums ended in penalties for the home side before Billy Vunipola picked up and forced his way over for Charlie Hodgson to convert. Seventy seconds after the restart, which the Tigers negligently let bounce, Ashton’s break ended with Bosch taking an advantage of an overlap. Leicester’s chagrin was deepened by a leg injury suffered by the prop Marcos Ayerza, who cried out in pain after stumbling into a challenge on Bosch and had to be helped off the pitch.
Wyles made it three tries in eight minutes when he was freed by Hodgson’s slick pass and Leicester, from a point of untroubled advantage, were 13 points down. A team that had scored the fewest tries in the Premiership this season after London Welsh were not equipped to chase the game: they found ambition but not the skills to complement it and Sarries were grateful for the defensive workout before the semi-final against Clermont.
They failed to secure a try bonus point, their best period of pressure ending with a Hodgson penalty. Leicester left with nothing and their wing Vereniki Goneva, by then playing in the centre, was sent to the sin-bin one minute from time for going into a challenge leading with his forearm, an ugly way to end another ugly performance.
