Leicester Tigers 15-12 Saracens: Last-minute Freddie Burns drop-goal clinches Gallagher Premiership title

Freddie Burns' last-minute drop-goal sealed Leicester Tigers a first Premiership title for nine years as they overcame Saracens 15-12 in dramatic fashion at an overcast Twickenham.

Having scored the only tries of the final through blindside flanker Hanro Liebenberg and No 8 Jasper Wiese, Leicester should have added further points before being pegged back by the boot of Owen Farrell, who levelled the final with four minutes to play at 12-12.

Tigers lost talismanic playmaker George Ford - who is departing to Sale Sharks - to an ankle injury just 24 minutes in, but they stuck to their task to claim a much-deserved victory late on, with replacement Burns to the fore.

Saracens were also fortunate not to receive a first-half red card, as scrum-half Aled Davies was shown yellow by referee Wayne Barnes despite his shoulder connecting with the head of Tigers hooker Julian Montoya.

Tigers lost a man to the sin-bin too, as replacement centre Matt Scott was also fortunate to avoid red for making contact with the head of Billy Vunipola in an incident just prior to Sarries levelling the game late on.

It left Leicester with 14 men for the closing stages, but they created one final chance to claim a first Premiership title since 2013.

Leicester full-back Freddie Steward showed nerves at the beginning of the contest, knocking on the first high ball, with Sarries only called back during a Max Malins attack down the right wing for a forward pass deduced by touch judge Luke Pearce.

Saracens, who were hugely outnumbered within the stadium in terms of supporters despite being a London club, hit the front on five minutes, as TMO Tom Foley picked up a late tackle by flanker Liebenberg on centre Nick Tompkins, allowing Farrell to drift a languid strike of the ball from the tee over for 3-0.

On 14 minutes, Leicester were handed a huge opportunity when scrum-half Davies made two big errors: first knocking on under a high ball just outside his 22 to give Tigers possession, before then putting full-back Alex Goode in a difficult spot with a pass on top of the Saracens try-line, which duly saw him carried back over.

The result was a five-metre attacking scrum for the Tigers, but the ball would never leave the set-piece as tighthead Dan Cole was penalised against the head for losing his bind, and Saracens could clear.

Up the other end, roles were reversed as Saracens were penalised mere metres from the try-line for Farrell and Tompkins going off feet at a counter ruck, and a couple of minutes later Leicester were given the chance to level the final.

It came as Davies made his third big mistake of the half, producing a poor box-kick straight up into the air which Sarries couldn't compete for, and at the next breakdown Billy Vunipola was pinged for offside. Despite being presented a fairly routine effort, Ford struck wide though.

Not long after, the Leicester No 10 hobbled off through injury in a major blow after appearing to roll his ankle twice down the left wing, and a hugely significant moment followed on 26 minutes when the TMO called for Davies' tackle on Montoya to be looked at.

To huge surprise, despite replays clearly showing shoulder-to-head contact, Barnes talked down his decision to a yellow card as the Welsh scrum-half's rotten performance continued.

Within a minute, Leicester struck for the opening try as Liebenberg forced his way over from close-range after Steward had broken brilliantly down the right and passed on for Chris Ashton to be stopped short. From there, Tigers stayed patient to score on penalty advantage.

Burns converted superbly but just past the half-hour mark, centre Elliot Daly reduced the deficit to a point courtesy of a smoothly struck 48-metre penalty after Leicester failed to roll away following a big Vunipola carry.

Within moments, momentum swung again as 39-year-old Tigers scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth charged Farrell down to force a five-metre attacking scrum.

A Tigers penalty followed, and after prop and skipper Ellis Genge took a tap-and-go penalty, Wiese proved too strong as he cut back against the grain in the carry and powered forward low and hard amongst Sarries legs to score in the corner.

Burns' conversion drifted wide, but the try came with Davies still off the pitch, and left Leicester five points ahead at the interval.

A flurry of turnovers by both sides characterised the opening period of the second half, but it was Leicester who settled after Burns missed a difficult long-range penalty and once Steward produced a huge 50:22, as a booming clearance kick rolled on.

Three Leicester lineouts and driving mauls followed within the Saracens 22, as the Tigers chose to kick to the corner in favour of shots at goal, but twice Sarries infringed to give away penalties, and the third time saw them force the maul unplayable and win a turnover.

Leicester had all the momentum as they continued to exert pressure midway through the third quarter, but a Billy Vunipola breakdown penalty deep in his 22 kept the Tigers out as Saracens clung on to stay in the final, ensuring they trailed by six points entering the final 20 minutes.

In response, Saracens put together their first sustained spell of attacking for the first time in a long while, and when Malins was tackled off the ball, Farrell tapped over the simple effort to bring the game to 12-9.

Leicester conceded another turnover at a rolling maul in the Saracens half with 10 minutes to go, before a consequent scrum penalty allowed Saracens to attack again in the Tigers half.

With four minutes to go, Farrell then notched his third effort to implausibly level the final, again from close-range as the Tigers were penalised at the breakdown, and in the same sequence Scott was sent from the field.

Burns, though, had the final say as the 32-year-old superbly dropped a goal on the angle and Leicester could celebrate wildly, solidifying a tremendous turnaround from 2020 when, but for Saracens' points deduction, Tigers would have been relegated to the Championship.