Finished Twickenham
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Harlequins win first Premiership title
Harlequins resisted a late Leicester Tigers charge to win their first Premiership title with a 30-23 win at Twickenham. More
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Live Commentary
Time:80'- Harlequins
- Leicester Tigers
- - In the 25th season of the English league, Harlequins finally finish on top of the pile. They were the best team in the regular season, and few would argue that Conor O'Shea's men were not the better side today.
80+' Clegg completes formalities, booming the ball out of his own end zone into the crowd, and HARLEQUINS ARE ENGLISH CHAMPIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME!
80+' PENALTY QUINS! Leicester don't release in the tackle, and IT'S ALL OVER!- 80+' Into time added on, but Leicester will have until the ball goes out of play to try to equalise.
- 80' Leicester opt for the lineout, and it's accurate... ball is killed by Quins and it's a Tigers scrum...
- 80' Final minute now - Leicester five metres out! They have to score a converted try to take it to extra time!
- 79' Leicester win the throw and have advantage with a Quins player going in from the side...
- 79' But now Leicester have a penalty, and Twelvetrees finds touch five yards from the Harlequins line! It all comes down to this!
- 78' Oh, what a terrible throw! Mistake from the Leicester lineout, not straight. Scrum Quins!
- 78' And now Evans does come off, replaced by Rory Clegg. He looks unimpressed, but it was a fairly big clonk to the head he took.
- 77' But now Leicester get a penalty... they will hoof it long, and look for mount one final salvo.
- 77' Still with Quins. Doing a fantastic job here. Any Leicester infringement means a kickable penalty for Nick Evans.
- 76' Quins just looking to run phase after phase in the forwards, killing the clock. Frustration for Leicester here.
75' Leicester bring Scott Hamilton, Billy Twelvetrees and Logovi'i Mulipola off the bench. And it looks like Evans will play on for Quins!- 75' Evans had a clash of heads with Parlin and looks pretty dazed. I guess he'll be going off.
- 75' Manu Tuilagi comes into the ruck from the side, and Quins have a penalty. And Nick Evans is down injured, so the clock stops.
- 74' Quins change: Guest replaces Fa'asavalu.
- 73' Penalty Leicester, and they will knock the ball into touch and look to ratchet up the pressure again!
- 72' Quins win a line-out and try to slow play right down. They will just look to hold on to the ball and take the sting out of these final eight minutes.
- 71' Ben Youngs has turned this game around almost single-handedly - his alertness and pace have created all 10 of Tigers' second-half points.
71' Ford, to bring Leicester to within one score... it's a good kick, and Quins' lead has been slashed to just seven points! 30-23.- 70' Youngs makes another stellar break, but this time he has no support... Leicester do, however, win a penalty that George Ford will kick towards goal.
- 69' Leicester spin the ball out, and Wayne Barnes blows for a very marginal forward pass - Manu Tuilagi reacts with frustration. He timed his run poorly, in any case.
- 68' Superb from Youngs to set up that try - Quins had switched off, and he took a quick tap penalty.
- 67' George Ford pops the conversion over, and Harlequins face an anxious final 12 minutes! 30-20.
67' TRY! Hello! Ben Youngs taps and makes a brilliant break, then hands off to Anthony Allen, who touches down under the posts! 30-18.- 65' Evans... it sneaks inside the right-hand post, and only a miracle will save Leicester now. It's Harlequins' to lose. 30-13.
- 64' Yet another Harlequins penalty for illegal scrummaging. Leicester have no answer to the power of the Quins front row. Evans will kick this.
- 63' A couple of changes for Leicester, who bring Castrogiovanni and Tom Youngs on for Cole and Chuter.
- 62' Richard Cockerill shakes his head on the bench - this game as just slipped out of reach of his players in this second half.
- 61' Alex Tuilagi sprints down the left, but play is called back for a forward pass. Mike Brown shoves Tuilagi, who chucks the ball back and hits Brown in the face! It's a bit of a fuss about nothing and referee Wayne Barnes calms things down.
- 59' It's no more than the London club have deserved for a thoroughly impressive performance. Is there anything left in the tank for Leicester, who have simply not been allowed to play.
- 58' Evans to give Quins a 14-point lead... another great kick, and now Tigers have a mountain to climb! 27-13.
- 57' TRY!! Chris Robshaw for Harlequins! The pressure finally tells as the Quins and England captain bursts over from a couple of yards! 25-13.
- 56' Quins threaten again with Care, Robshaw... they are just a couple of metres out...
- 55' Williams makes a storming break down the left and offlaods to Evans, who in turn tries a lob pass inside, but it is intercepted by Agulla five metres from the Leicester line! A real chance goes begging for Harlequins.
- 54' Quins come again, and they are looking to put this game out of reach for Leicester.
- 52' Waldrom penalised for coming in from the wrong side, and it's yet another Harlequins penalty - duly thwacked into touch by Evans. Quins well on top here.
- 51' Oooh... Leicester spin it down the line and are whistled for a forward pass. And the whistle goes about a nano-second before Brown makes an interception for Quins that he would probably have run in for a try!
- 50' Sloppy by Leicester, who look to build pressure in the maul, but end up dropping the ball! Rochard Cockerill reacts with an agonised look.
- 49' Ref Wayne Barnes is unhappy at something a Leicester player said, calls Geordan Murphy over and tells him: "I cannot have players screaming at me."
- 49' Waldrom is back, and Leicester have a penalty around halfway. They need a momentum switch.
- 48' Evans, yet again, 25m out, just right of centre... not his purest strike of the day, but it's good enough. Quins lead 20-13, and they have scored nine points since Waldrom's binning.
- 47' Quins play advantage and Care hits a grubber through-ball... fantastic work by Agulla to intercept and prevent the try, but it will come back for a very kickable penalty.
- 46' High tackle by Manu Tuilagi, and it's yet another Quins penalty. Out of kicking range, but punted into Tigers territory.
- 45' Waldrom is putting his scrum cap back on and preparing to return, though by my reckoning he still has a couple of minutes to go.
- 44' Evans.. it's an wasy kick by his standards, and he pops it over to increase their cushion to four points, 17-13.
- 43' Another penalty for Quins as Ayerza takes Brown out - this should be kicked by Evans. Good start to the second half for them.
- 42' Penalty Quins after Cole is adjudged not to have rolled away by ref Wayne Barnes. Evans will boot it into Tigers territory.
- 41' Leicester kick deep to start the second half - they are now playing from right to left as we see it.
- - The teams are back out - Leicester are the first to re-take the field, and they face another eight minutes with 14 men, until Thomas Waldrom comes back on.
- 41' That's half-time! Harlequins have the narrowest of leads, 14-13, but they also lead 15-14 in the personnel department after Waldrom's sin-binning. This game is perfectly poised! Back in a few minutes.
- 40' So Leicester, down to 14 men, will just look to see out time until the break. The kick-off flies deep into opposition territory.
- 39' Evans should make this kick, 42m out, just left of centre... no mistake! Harlequins are back in front, 14-13.
38' Yellow card! Waldrom is sin-binned, and it's a kickable penalty for Quins. A great boost for them just before half-time.- 37' Brown comes for another high ball but misses it completely. He gets away with his error as Quins recover the loose ball.
- 36' Kicked deep into Quins territory... but the ball goes over the line, and it's touched down for a 22 dropout.
- 35' Leicester look to build insode the Quins half, but are penalised for not releasing - credit to Monye for that one. It's outside Evans's kicking range, so he will boom it into touch.
- 34' Quins have advantage and use it well, slinging the ball down the back line with abandon. Then Monye fights like mad to avoid a tackle... but he hangs on too long and is stripped on the floor.
- 33' Quins are starting to look a little ragged - Brown takes a high ball and spills it forwards when Mafi races in for the tackle.
- 32' Ford nails the conversion, and against the balance of play Leicester are in front! 13-11 to Richard Cockerill's men!
- 31' TRY!! Steve Mafi for Leicester! Tigers nick the Quins throw with Cole, who offloads to Mafi and the Tongan flanker races through from 60 metres out! 11-11.
- 30' Mistake from Leicester number eight Thomas Waldrom, who inexplicably hacks a kick into touch under little pressure. It's a poor strike.
- 30' Great hit from Tuilagi just now, waiting for Brown to take a high ball, then absolutely piling into him.
- 29' Some big hits flying in from both sides as the ball squirms around inside Quins territory. Evans then welts it long downfield.
- 28' No mistake this time from Ford, who is 2-for-3 today. Leicester reduce the arrears, and given the balance of play an 11-6 deficit won't look too bad to them at the moment.
- 27' Another Leicester penalty, against Robshaw for not releasing. This is no more than 15m from the posts and dead central. An easy kick if Tigers want it.
- 26' Ford goes for goal... no. He sets it out right and it never has a chance of curling back between the posts. A missed opportunity. That was fairly central, from about 45m. Very kickable.
- 25' Penalty Leicester! Youngs is impeded as he attempts to spin the ball out of a ruck. Ford will kick at goal.
- 24' Mike Brown fields a tricky bobbling ball by his own try line and wallops it away. Could have been awkward - he was ghoping it would cross the line but it did not.
- 23' This time Leicester send the kick-off long after losing the last one.
- 22' Evans strikes from shadow into sunlight... it's a perfect kick, straight down the middle and Harlequins add to their lead. 11-3.
- 21' Infringement from Ayerza, and that's a penalty to Harlequins! This time from wide on the left, the opposite side to his last two misses.
- 20' Play iis confined for the moment on the thin shadowed patch of turf on the Quins left.
- 19' Monye makes a break down the left-hand side and is eventually brought down. But Harlequins are exerting massive pressure and breaking the gain line seemingly at will.
- 18' The possession is still overwhelmingly with Quins, and they look very much at home on the big stage.
- 16' Quins recover the kick-off and are immediately back on the front foot. Williams appears to step out, but the linesman's flag stays down. Eventually Leicester win a scrum and will look to clear their lines.
- 15' George Ford makes no mistake, bashing his close-range kick through the posts and into the crowd. 8-3 Quins.
- 14' Leicester fail to use the advantage and they have a penalty inside the 22, just left of centre. This will be kicked. Tigers need to get on the scoreboard.
- 13' Ayerza makes a 10-metre break and is brought down by Easter. There's an advantage - Leicester penalty coming up...
- 12' Well, my father-in-law won't be too impressed with the opening stages. Above all, Leicester need to see some of the ball. They have barely had a sniff so far.
- 11' Evans's conversion is a very similar kick to the penalty he missed a second ago... OFF THE POST AGAIN! This time it hits the inside of the upright. He's getting closer, but no dice! It remains 8-0.
- 10' TRY! What a start for Quins, and they get the try their early pressure deserved! Robson breaks Cole's tackle, and Quins use the overlap on the outside allowing Tom Williams to touch down on his 100th Premiership appearance for the club. 8-0.
- 9' The ball drops awkwardly off the upright for Leicester - both Tuilagi and Youngs are nearly brought down inside their own end zone, and they eventually clear. Tuilagi made a mistake trying to bring that one out - he could have just touched down for a 22 dropout.
- 8' Evans takes the kick on, from wide on the right... slow, methodical build-up and he strikes it.... off the outside of the post!
- 7' Care breaks from the scrum and Quins make good headway down the blind side on the right. There are Leicester hands in on the ground, and Quins have a penalty. It is kickable, but right out on the touchline.
- 6' Tuilagi looks to make a break and pops the ball off - but he lobs it forward and Quins have a scrum. Some encouragement for Tigers, though.
- 5' Leicester win a penalty inside their own half - tackler not releasing. It is boomed into touch inside opposition territory.
- 4' Another massive Leicester tackle sends Johnston reeling, but Quins are seeing all the early ball.
- 3' Evans splits the uprights from 40 metres, dead in front of the posts. First blood Harlequins, 3-0.
- 3' That Tuilagi tackle did look a little 'Warburton-y' - but ref Wayne Barnes said it was not dangerous. Still, a chance for Evans to kick Quins into the lead.
- 2' Both sides are playing in their 'home' kit. That's always nice to see, but it's not totally easy to tell the teams apart when they all pile into the ruck. Quins have a penalty... two infringements from Leicester, one for a Tuilagi dump tackle on Danny Care and one for offside.
1' Game on! Quins kick off, playing from right to left - Evans drop-kicks and Leicester take it cleanly.- 15:00 Out come the teams to the usual sturm und drang, plus a raucous reception from the crowd. These club games at Twickenham seem to have more atmosphere than England matches - a few less prawn sandwiches, a few more die-hard fans, I suspect.
- 14:59 Hilda writes in: "Hi everyone, I'm checking in from Miami Florida, I'm wondering how the crowd at the Stoop looks. Are they fired up? Go 'Quins!" Hello Hilda. If there's a crowd at the Stoop, they have come to the wrong place. Instead he have a capacity 80,000 crowd a few hundred yards away at Twickenham.
- 14:57 Although they finished second in the regular season table, Leicester are 1/2 favourites today. You can get 21/10 against Quins, with 22/1 on a draw inside 80 minutes (it would go to extra-time and place kicks if required).
- 14:55 It really is a glorious afternoon at Twickenham - not what you'd call typical rugby conditions, but a wonderful day to be outside watching some top-class sport. Or, if you're reading this, it's a wonderful day to be inside reading about some top-class sport.
- 14:50 So then, who's got a prediction? Either in the comments section below, or you can tweet me @alexchick81. Contact me on Twitter
- 14:50 In the semi-finals, Leicester took care of business with a 24-15 win against Saracens, while Quins snatched a dramatic 25-23 result against Northampton with 10 points in the final 10 minutes.
14:45 My name's Alex Chick, on a rare rugby holiday from the more usual football stuff. It's a most welcome change. In the interests of full disclosure - I come from Melton Mowbray, my wife is a Tigers fan and my father-in-law is at the game. I, however, will maintain steely impartiality throughout. Follow me on Twitter - @alexchick81- 14:40 The major piece of team news came in the shape of George Ford's selection at fly-half for Leicester, with England's Toby Flood only on the bench after returning from injury. Ford has a blinder against Saracens in the semi-final and will be trusted with running a Tigers attack that scored mroe points than any other team in the regular season.
- 14:35 Last year's Twickenham showpiece saw Saracens beat Tigers 22-18, keeping the East Midlanders at bay with an astonishing goalline stand at the death. It was gripping stuff, and if we get anything like that today we'll be in for a treat.
- 14:30 TEAMS - LEICESTER: 15 Geordan Murphy (capt), 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Marcos Ayerza, 2 George Chuter, 3 Dan Cole, 4 George Skivington, 5 Geoff Parling, 6 Steve Mafi, 7 Julian Salvi, 8 Thomas Waldrom... Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Graham Kitchener, 20 Craig Newby, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Scott Hamilton
- 14:25 TEAMS - HARLEQUINS: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 George Lowe, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care; 1 Joe Marler, 2 Joe Gray, 3 James Johnston, 4 Olly Kohn, 5 George Robson, 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 8 Nick Easter... Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Tomas Vallejos, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Matt Hopper.
- 14:20 This is familiar territory for both clubs. Quins, who topped the regular-season table, play literally just across the road at The Stoop. Tigers, meanwhile, have made this corner of South-West London a home from home. They have been involved in the last eight play-off finals, including this one. Of the last seven, they have won three and lost four.
- 14:15 Welcome to LIVE coverage of the Premiership final between Harlequins and Leicester from Twickenham Stadium!
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Summary
Harlequins versus Leicester Tigers Williams 10’, Robshaw 57’ Tries Mafi 31’, Allen 67’ Evans 58’ Conversions Ford 32’, 67’ Evans 3’, 23’, 39’, 45’, 48’, 66’ Penalties Ford 14’, 28’, 70’ Drops
Live Team Line-Up
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HarlequinsManager: Conor O'Shea
On the Field
- Marler
- Gray
- Johnston
- Kohn
- Robson
- Fa'asavalu
- Robshaw
- Easter
- Care
- Evans
- Monye
- Turner-Hall
- Lowe
- Williams
- Brown
Subs
- Lambert
- Guest
- Clegg
- Dickson
- Vallejos
- Buchanan
- Collier
- Hopper
Injured
None
Suspended
None
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Leicester TigersManager: Richard Cockerill
On the Field
- Ayerza
- Chuter
- Cole
- Skivington
- Parling
- Mafi
- Salvi
- Waldrom
- Youngs
- Ford
- Tuilagi
- Allen
- Tuilagi
- Agulla
- Murphy
Subs
- Newby
- Castrogiovanni
- Youngs
- Kitchener
- Hamilton
- Twelvetrees
- Harrison
- Mulipola
Injured
None
Suspended
None
- Ayerza
Pete I'd had a few too but could appreciate being beaten by a great team with a great skipper. Tigers will be bcak as usual I am sure.
Sorry BOBROVNIK you're right. A few too many beers... shouldn't have "voiced" my opinion
It is about time the tigers had their claws clipped.?
Msg 15 Pete that sort of disrespect has no place on rugby forum. Real rugby fans don't talk in those terms. Find another forum please.
YYYYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WELL DONE QUINS!
I wasn't always sure of Robshaw's credentials until today. What a player and what a performance today.
Well played, Quins. You led the Premiership all season and have your just reward. From a Tigers supporter!
Well done Quins. Best team on the day won. What a game. See you next year. Proud Tigers fan!
Scum doesn't always end up on top. Go Quinns
Wayne Barnes,,, Worst ref in the premiership!
keep it up quins just play as you have been doing and you will get your justive rewardsand you all desever it a saints fan though and though
Man of the match ? Who else but the ever present captain in every tackle chris robshaw who scored the decider
8.come on harlequins you deserve this title been at the top all season though iam a Sale fan come onnnnnnnnnnnnn
Come on Quins, I know you're up against dodgy Leicester together with dodgy Wayne Barnes, but you can win
come on harlequins you deserve this title been at the top all season though iam a saints fan come onnnnnnnnnnnnn
Hi everyone, I'm checking in from Miami Florida, I'm wondering how the crowd at the Stoop looks. Are they fired up? Go 'Quins!
Looking at Tigers recent form compared to Quins minor stutters I think Tigers should do it but I foresee a very tough and entertaining game ahead. Tough on Toby Flood being demoted but when you look at that bench it is a very good back up with Flood, Castro and Hamilton waiting in the wings.
Come onTigers finish the season in style you deserve it.
Come on tigers harlequins are so scared they are running away from us and going to Abu dhabi!
COME ON HARLEQUINS!!!!!!!!!
