Tigers finish second after dispatching Newcastle

Gallagher Premiership

Leicester Tigers (14) 42

Tries: Liebenberg, Bassett, Kata, Heyes, Rogerson, Hassell-Collins Cons: Pollard 4, Volavola 2

Newcastle Falcons (6) 20

Tries: Leatherbarrow, Arnold Cons: Connon 2 Pens: Connon 2

Leicester Tigers secured a second-placed Premiership decorativeness and a location play-off semi-final against Sale by beating Newcastle Falcons.

It took until nan 17th infinitesimal for Tigers to drawback their first effort done Hanro Liebenberg acknowledgment to chap South African Pollard's accelerated hands, conscionable a infinitesimal aft Brett Connon put bottommost broadside Falcons up pinch a penalty.

Substitute Louis Brown's sin-binning halfway done nan first play did not thief Newcastle but nan visitors repelled Tigers' attacks up until nan 31st infinitesimal erstwhile Josh Bassett raced down to people successful nan corner.

Falcons grounded to enactment arsenic competitory successful nan 2nd half arsenic tries from Solomone Kata, Joe Heyes, Matt Rogerson and Ollie Hassell-Collins meant Leicester ran distant pinch a bonus-point triumph and a location semi-final against Sale adjacent Saturday.

Leicester needed conscionable 1 constituent to decorativeness successful nan apical 4 and knew a triumph would unafraid 2nd spot arsenic they faced nan Premiership's bottommost side, who person won conscionable doubly this season.

Newcastle still made life difficult for Tigers successful nan first-half. Leicester had much than double nan magnitude of carries and statement breaks than Falcons but were incapable to get immoderate fluid attacking momentum.

Following a beardown Tigers scrum, Ollie Chessum went complete but was held up by Ollie Leatherbarrow's spot to beryllium denied nan opening points.

Connon kicked complete a punishment to springiness Falcons nan match's first points of nan day but South African backmost statement Liebenberg was past fixed abstraction to tally successful from adjacent scope to put Leicester successful front.

Brown's yellowish paper gave nan Tigers a numerical advantage and Bassett collected a delightful walk from Liebenberg to tally successful his 10th effort of nan play unchallenged connected nan correct wing.

Connan kicked different 3 points conscionable earlier half-time to support Falcons wrong 8 points connected nan scoreboard and they were buoyed further aft nan break erstwhile full-back Freddie Steward saw a Tigers effort disallowed, and Hassell-Collins was besides misdeed binned for making an forbidden fend-off.

As Tigers' unit heaped connected nan Falcons defence however, Kata burst done to widen their lead.

Replacement prop Heyes barged complete to agelong nan lead to 28-6 and while Leatherbarrow pulled 1 backmost for nan Falcons, it proved a blow-out towards nan extremity arsenic Rogerson scored Leicester's fifth.

Sammy Arnold vanished a swift attacking move 4 minutes from clip for nan visitors that was a specified consolation though arsenic Tigers sewage nan past people done Hassell-Collins.

Leicester Tigers caput coach Michael Cheika told BBC Radio Leicester:

"We've done what we wanted to do, somehow, we've sewage there. I'm not judge how, but passim nan play we've sewage there.

"I knew it was going to beryllium a tricky 1 from nan start. There was a batch going on. The boys retiring and trying to make that each fresh in.

"Newcastle had thing to suffer and they're a gritty team, they're difficult to beat. There was an anticipation of winning that crippled because of our position and theirs but I cognize from acquisition that position connected nan array intends thing erstwhile it comes to nan game.

"We sewage disappointment by a fewer things that didn't spell our way. We had to play a batch of rugby and play a batch of phases successful nan first half and erstwhile it doesn't spell our way, sometimes you tin driblet your caput but astatine half-time we talked astir really nan fundamentals of our crippled person been good.

"We were trying to simplify a mates of things and past make it count successful nan second-half and we sewage nan scores."

Newcastle Falcons advisor head of rugby Steve Diamond told BBC Radio Newcastle:

"We're really pleased pinch nan effort and exertion that they put forward. We were playing against a amended team, a bigger squad but we stuck to it.

"[We] astir apt should person had different mates of tries that could person made it a spot tighter but that's nan quality successful nan teams astatine nan minute.

"We're a astir squad and we've sewage to get those errors retired of our strategy and you do that by getting amended coaching and amended players.

"Defensively, our capacity - contempt nan scoreline - was afloat of grit, determination and a batch of accuracy. We really disappointment some nan Leicester crowd and nan Leicester team."

Leicester Tigers: Steward; Bassett, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Youngs; Smith, Montoya, Cole, Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.

Replacements: Clare, Cronin, Heyes, Rogerson, Ilione, van Poortvliet, Volavola, Brown.

Sin bin: Hassell-Collins (50)

Newcastle Falcons: Obatoyinbo; Redshaw, Hearle, Arnold, Pepper; Connan, Stuart; McCallum, Blamire, de Bruin, Hawkins, de Chaves, Neild, Gordon, Lockwood.

Replacements: Byrne, Rewcastle, Hancock, Usher, Leatherbarrow, Davis, Spencer, Brown.

Sin bin: Brown (23)