Leicester hold off Sale to reach Premiership final
Adam Radwan's first-half double took his Premiership try tally to 12 this season
- Published
Gallagher Premiership play-off semi-final, Mattioli Woods Welford Road, Leicester
Leicester (13) 21
Tries: Radwan 2, Perese Pens: Pollard 2
Sale (3) 16
Tries: Du Preez Cons: Ford Pens: Ford 3
Leicester Tigers reached the Premiership final for the second time in four seasons as they edged Sale Sharks 21-16 in a pulsating play-off semi-final.
Handre Pollard and George Ford traded penalties before Adam Radwan's double - including a sensational diving finish - put the dominant hosts 13-3 up at the break.
Pollard quickly matched Ford's second penalty, but a Rob du Preez score from a slick move and another three points from Ford brought the Sharks level to tee up a grand finale.
Izaia Perese's scorching run to the line with his first touch restored the Tigers' lead with 13 minutes remaining and Michael Cheika's men survived intense late pressure to preserve their unbeaten home play-off record.
Leicester will now chase a record-extending 12th league title at Twickenham next Saturday when they take on six-time champions Bath in the final.
The result ensured the departing head coach Cheika, skipper Julian Montoya and fly-half Handre Pollard, as well as retiring former England trio Dan Cole, Ben Youngs and Mike Brown, will get the chance to see out their Tigers careers with a title.
Rob du Preez went over for Sale's only try shortly before the hour mark
In a high-energy, intensely physical start, played out in a raucous atmosphere, Pollard's pinpoint penalty from the left touchline put the hosts ahead after Sharks infringed at the line-out.
Amid a fierce battle for supremacy up front, former Tigers fly-half Ford levelled following a hard-won scrum penalty, but that was as good as it got for Sale before half-time.
Radwan struck with virtually his first touch of the ball when Jack van Poortvliet's switch of play and long gave the winger space to run into down the right flank before his dart back inside to the line took out three defenders.
However, the former Newcastle wing's second finish was sensational.
Ollie Hassell-Collins and Ollie Chessum were both stopped just short before Radwan at full-stretch somehow gathered Pollard's overhit crossfield kick in mid-air as he dived for the line.
The Tigers smothered the Sharks and wrestled control of the set-piece, but a huge defensive effort from Sale at least denied Leicester another try in first-half stoppage-time and limited the damage.
Arron Reed's explosive burst and Raffi Quirke's line break shortly after the restart signalled intent and Sale's threat, the latter earning Ford a simple penalty for 13-6.
Pollard sliced a makeable penalty wide - his third successive miss - but took another chance moments later.
Izaia Perese provided the match-winning score within a minute of coming off the bench
Yet having been on the ropes for so long, the Sharks hit back with virtually their first visit to the Leicester line when a spell of pressure ended with Ford feeding du Preez's run under the posts.
The crowd were on their feet to welcome long-time servants Cole and Youngs on to home turf one last time, but the momentum and energy seemed to be all with the visitors who levelled through Ford's third penalty with 15 minutes left.
Yet it was another Tigers replacement, Perese, who stole the show almost instantly, hitting the line at full tilt just inside the Sale half and scorching away on a diagonal run to the left corner.
Chessum went close to sealing the match after Freddie Steward's try-saving tackle on Du Preez and Emeka Ilione had made a crucial turnover in front of his own posts.
And in a frantic finale, the Tigers had to summon up one last huge defensive push in front of their own line to withstand a late, late Sale surge and ensure it would be them who made it to Twickenham next weekend.
Leicester Tigers head coach Michael Cheika told BBC Radio Leicester:
"It was tough. First half I thought we were excellent, and second half I thought Sale upped their game.
"We didn't go backwards or drop our game but maybe we didn't have enough impact forward to keep them away.
"I always knew it would be a game that would go right down to the wire. Once you're ready for a game like that and think about it mentally then when it comes you're okay with it and I think we handled that pretty well.
"We need to go up a level that's for sure, so it will be on us as coaches to give the lads some tips on how they can get up that extra level."
Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson told BBC Radio Manchester:
"It's crushing. The season crashes to a very abrupt end in the semi-finals when you're hoping and have planned for something more.
"I don't think we deserved to get to a final on that performance.
"I thought how they (Leicester) played in of their game plan and how they executed it - aerial contests and scrums on what was a slippy pitch, I thought they played that game very well and deserved to win by a few more if I'm honest.
"We came right back into it, scored a try and those moments when you've just scored are the ones when you can't take a collective breath.
"So to concede so quickly after scoring opens the door for them again and after that it was always a difficult task on that kind of day with the form they were in."
Leicester: Steward, Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins, Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya, Hayes, Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.
Replacements: Clare, Cronin, Cole, Rogerson, Ilione, Youngs, Volavola, Perese.
Sale: Carpenter, Roebuck, Robert du Preez, Ma'asi-White, Reed, Ford, Quirke; Rodd, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour, Van Rhyn, Hill, Tom Curry, Ben Curry, Jean-Luc du Preez.
Replacements: McElroy, McIntyre, John, Bamber, Dan du Preez, Warr, James, O'Flaherty.