After a season of disappointment at Welford Road, Leicester moved to within one game of Heineken Cup qualification on Sunday by overcoming a narrow first-leg deficit to beat Harlequins and book a clash with Saracens in the Zurich Wild-Card play-off final.
Tries from Glenn Gelderbloom, Neil Back and substitute Will Skinner were
enough to see off Harlequins, who had made the early running with a magnificent
solo score from Ugo Monye.
This was Leicester's fifth match of the season against Harlequins and after
the London club's victories in the Powergen Cup and Wednesday's first leg, the
tally read two wins each.
It was only a gutsy second-half fightback at The Stoop, after Dean Richards
had introduced Leicester's big-hitters from the bench, that brought the Tigers
to within three points of Harlequins heading into this second leg.
And despite the relative apathy to the Wild Card play-offs from fans and
players alike, the prospect of missing out on Heineken Cup rugby was too grave a
thought to bear at Welford Road.
So back into the side came captain Martin Johnson, prop Graham Rowntree,
hooker Dorian West and flanker Neil Back to beef up the Leicester pack.
But for all their gritty endeavour up front early on, fullback Tim Stimpson
was enduring a horrible day. He looked uncomfortable with the ball in hand,
spilling it in the tackle, but more importantly missed three relatively simple
first-half penalties that would have secured Leicester a comfortable aggregate
advantage at the interval.
As it was, the overall scores were tied heading into the final 40 minutes, but
only after Leicester had spent most of the opening period trying to find the
right gear.
Stimpson was stalling and after a bright start from Leicester, who had
Harlequins under torrid pressure immediately from the kick-off, the England
international sent his first kick wide.
After Paul Burke, who kicked 16 points in the first leg, had responded by
giving Harlequins the lead on the day with a fifth-minute penalty, it took
Stimpson two more attempts to get Leicester on the board.
And he had already missed a third attempt when Monye stunned Leicester with a
lightning break-away try.
The England Sevens star scythed through the broken Leicester ranks, arcing
past Johnson before straightening through a gaping hole in the Tigers defence to
sprint unopposed under the posts.
Burke's conversion made it 10-3 to the visitors, extending Harlequins'
aggregate advantage to 10 points, as Leicester's engines continued to splutter.
Stimpson turned down the chance of a shot at goal, but sent his kick for touch
long to hand Harlequins a scrum and sacrifice a magnificent attacking
opportunity.
But a reckless slip from Harlequins gave Leicester hope and suddenly the
Tigers were purring.
Harlequins hooker Tani Fuga made a mess of his own lineout, delaying the throw
until his pack were no longer ready and Leicester stole, spun it and scored.
Gelderbloom came off his wing to darted over unopposed and Stimpson began to
find his range with the conversion and a second penalty.
He landed another five minutes into the second half before Back burrowed over
in the corner for Leicester's second try of the game and the one that clinched
them a spot in the Wild Card final.
It was the England man's 107th for Leicester and it came after he cleverly cut
in off the wing and did magnificently to ground the ball.
But Stimpson missed his kick again and Burke's second penalty of the afternoon
after 63 minutes reduced the arrears to 21-13.
Burke then hit the woodwork as Harlequins tried to force a grandstand finish
but a first Leicester try for Skinner, bursting on to a pass from Freddie
Tuilagi, sealed the day.
The prize for the winners of the Wild Card final, which takes place at
Franklin's Gardens, Northampton, on May 31, is a spot in Europe's premier rugby
competition next year.
Teams:
Leicester: Stimpson, Murphy, Gelderbloom, Tuilagi, Lloyd,
McMullen, Ellis, Rowntree, West, Nebbett, M. Johnson, Deacon,
Short, Back, Corry.
Replacements: Freshwater, Kay, Garforth, Balding, J. Hamilton,
Vesty, W. Skinner.
Tries: Gelderbloom, Back, W. Skinner.
Cons: Stimpson 2.
Pens: Stimpson 3.
Harlequins: N. Williams, Monye, Greenwood, Deane, Luger, Burke,
M. Powell, Leonard, Fuga, Dawson, Davison, Miall, Winters, Vos,
Diprose.
Replacements: Hayter, Gomez, Evans, Rudzki, Sanderson, Bemand,
Gollings.
Tries: Monye.
Cons: Burke.
Pens: Burke 2.
Agg (51-39)
Att: 5,552
Ref: Roy Maybank (RFU).
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