Izaia Perese's moment of magic sends Leicester into Premiership final

Independent

3 days ago

Adam Radwan produced two electric finishes as Leicester Tigers set up a Premiership final against Bath by edging Sale Sharks 21-16 at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
Radwan struck twice in the first half as Tigers surged 13-3 ahead and, although Sale were eventually stirred into action to draw level, replacement Izaia Perese sprinted over to secure a place at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham next Saturday.
It was the perfect home send off for retiring club greats Dan Cole and Ben Youngs, as well as the departing Handre Pollard, Julian Montoya and Michael Cheika, their Australian head coach.
Cheika watched as Leicester produced some of their best rugby on his watch to take Sale apart before the break with their only shortcoming being the failure to score more points.
The Sharks responded admirably and took a hard-fought play-off to the wire with a late barrage of attacks, but the hosts had the resilience to hold out.
The early exchanges lived up to expectations as the league's two most physical teams looked to impose their authority, but it was Leicester who gained the edge.
The Tigers were defending hard while Sale won turnovers through Tom Curry and Bevan Rodd at key moments, with penalties from Pollard and George Ford ensuring there was little to separate them on the scoreboard.
Both scrums had their moments but it was Leicester's that helped deliver the first big moment of the semi-final by providing the launchpad for Radwan's opener in the 20th minute.
Sale were shunted backwards and - one phase later - Jack van Poortvliet flung out a long pass to the jet-heeled right wing, who stepped inside a posse of three covering defenders before sprinting over with an acrobatic dive.
Eight minutes later, Leicester were over again courtesy of some magic from their dynamic finisher.
An unmarked Radwan was screaming for the ball as his pack battered the whitewash and once it reached Pollard's hands, the South Africa fly-half overhit his kick.
But the two-cap England back had the speed, agility and reflexes to turn Pollard's rare kicking error into a beautifully-finished try.
The saving grace for Sale was that they trailed just 13-3 and as they began the second half with a new sense of urgency that was rewarded by a Ford penalty, they were back in contention.
Pollard missed his third shot at goal in four attempts but nailed the fifth opportunity that came his way, but the Sharks were dominating the third quarter.
Their breakthrough came in the 58th minute when Rob du Preez rounded off a well-worked try that saw Pollard clatter the uprights. Pollard later had to leave the field for an HIA following a big hit from Ben Curry.
A long-range penalty by Ford in the 66th minute levelled the score at 16-16 but Leicester exploded back into life when a powerful driving maul saw the ball released to Perese, whose smart line and raw speed swept him over.
Ben Curry followed his brother into the dugout - his afternoon ended by a hamstring injury - and while Sale threw everything at their opponents, there was no passing the defensive wall in front of them.