Leicester finish top but sloppy side won't scare waiting Saints

Leicester 32 London Irish 23

(GETTY)

Eleven minutes is a long time in a game of rugby and there are lots of things a team can do over the course of such a stretch. They might, for instance, score three tries to win a match bordering on the unwinnable, as Leicester did on Saturday. On the other hand, they might devote the entire period to what is effectively a single scrum, end up losing it and find themselves back where they started with nothing to show for their muscle-flexing machismo ... as Leicester did on Saturday. One way or another, the champions' performance here made the proverbial curate's egg seem a model of consistency.

They are a funny lot right now, and the Tigers are never at their most comfortable when the f-word is in play. Their victory over the Exiles in front of a full-voiced full house of 24,000-plus ensured a top-spot finish at the end of the regular season, which was nice for them, the sweeties. "I think we have to take satisfaction from that," said Richard Cockerill, their rugby director. It also earned them a home semi-final against their nearest and dearest from Northampton, which was rather less welcome. "If we play like that next week..." muttered Cockerill, who saw no need to finish the sentence.

Deep in the last quarter, it seemed certain they would be playing Gloucester instead of the Heineken Cup finalists – an easier task on the face of it, to the extent that a ruthless strategist might wonder why Leicester did not simply let London Irish win and have done with it. But as the Tigers are not renowned for letting anyone do anything without an argument and regard defeat on home soil in the way Superman regarded kryptonite, they rejected this approach. From 23-8 down, they created thrilling tries for Horacio Agulla, Anthony Allen and Tom Croft between the 72nd and 80th minutes before giving Alesana Tuilagi a rampaging wrap-up score in stoppage time.

None of this fooled Cockerill the Unfoolable. If the bullet-headed hooker of yore pushed the envelope during his playing days – trespassing on the All Blacks' haka, fighting with the fearsome "Stormin'" Norm Hewitt on and off the field, propelling Clive Woodward into advanced states of apoplexy – he always had a front-rower's grip on reality. That grip has tightened during his years in coaching, and when he walked on to the field to give his players both barrels at the final whistle, his reasoning was entirely sound.

For seven-eighths of the contest, Leicester were shambolic: slow in clearing the rucks, directionless at half-back, imprecise in their passing and off-loading, embarrassingly profligate when scoring opportunities arose. Croft, the most natural back-row athlete seen in this country since Lawrence Dallaglio first announced himself as a significant force, looked a zillion dollars as he cruised down the right touchline with the goal-line in his sights late in the first half. Quite why he stopped on arrival, pirouetting and pratting around to such a degree that Tom Homer was able to prevent him grounding the ball, was one of the mysteries of the age.

Not even Topsy Ojo's second interception try – the wing ran 80-odd metres unchallenged following a loose pass from Scott Hamilton on 49 minutes, having run 50-odd metres unchallenged following a loose pass from Toby Flood a little over half an hour earlier – sent the penny dropping. It was only after London Irish survived that long goal-line stand either side of the hour mark and ripped upfield to earn themselves a penalty in front of the Tigers' sticks that the home side reacted in the traditional fashion.

This reaction was not sparked by any of the big Leicester names – certainly not by Youngs or Flood or Croft. The men at the heart of it were the two centres: Allen, who won a couple of England caps under Andy Robinson in 2006 and has not been considered since; and Manu Tuilagi, who has not won any caps at all but is a long-odds bolter to make the World Cup squad later this year. Allen's ability to pinball his way upfield was the most striking factor in Leicester's comeback while Tuilagi's tackle-breaking surges asked questions of the Exiles' midfield defence that not even the formidable Seilala Mapusua could answer. As this was Mapusua's last game in the Premiership, he would have preferred to be confronted by someone just a little less challenging.

All of which raises the issue of England's misfiring centre partnership ahead of the global gathering in New Zealand. Is Shontayne Hape, the London Irish-bound Bath player currently recovering from minor surgery, really a better bet than Allen in the No 12 position? Neither man has a kicking game, but one of them at least has some dynamism. That man is not Hape, whose only advantages are in feet, inches, pounds and ounces. Tuilagi, by way of contrast, is not wanting in the avoirdupois department. He has no kicking game either, but as the former England coach Brian Ashton once said of the brick-outhouse wing Lesley Vainikolo: "Why the hell would you want a bloke his size to kick the ball?"

Cockerill is in no doubt as to the potential of his two midfielders. "On a national basis, they must be pushing," he said. "Both of them could play Test rugby now and do a good job." And will Martin Johnson, the England manager and an old mucker of very long standing, pick either of them? Even both? "Selection," he replied, "is a subjective thing". That'll be a "probably not", then.

London Irish, meanwhile, left in the knowledge that they will be playing Heineken Cup rugby next season. "That was our bottom line when the season began," said Toby Booth, their head coach, "but at the moment, I'm still shellshocked by what I've just witnessed. When you come to Welford Road you need the rub of the green, and we didn't get it. You can almost say that if you're going to win here, you have to do it twice over. But you have to admire the way they keep at you. They're champions for a reason."

Leicester: Tries Smith, Agulla, Allen, Croft, A Tuilagi. Conversions Flood 2. Penalty Flood. London Irish: Tries Ojo 2. Conversions Homer 2. Penalties Homer 3.

Leicester S Hamilton; M Smith (H Agulla, 64), M Tuilagi, A Allen, A Tuilagi; T Flood, B Youngs (J Grindal, 83); M Ayerza (B Stankovich, 78), G Chuter (R Hawkins, 65), M Castrogiovanni (D Cole, 54), E Slater (S Mafi, 54), G Skivington, T Croft, C Newby (capt, B Woods, 73), T Waldrom.

London Irish T Homer; T Ojo, J Joseph (E Seveali'i, 75), S Mapusua (C Malone, 81), A Thompstone; D Bowden, P Hodgson (D Allinson, 85); C Dermody (capt, M Lahiff, 64), D Paice (J Buckland, 70), F Rautenbach (A Corbisiero, 46), N Kennedy, R Casey (G Johnson, 64), J Gibson, S Armitage, R Thorpe (C Hala'ufia, 55).

Referee G Garner (Warwickshire).