Northampton overcome Leicester in derby classic to reach Prem final

George Furbank won the Prem title with Northampton in 2024

The Prem play-off semi-final

Northampton Saints (26) 45

Tries:Litchfield 3, Freeman, Furbank 2, McParlandCons:Smith 5

Leicester Tigers (19) 31

Tries:Liebenberg, Steward, Hassell-Collins 2, BaileyCons:Searle 3

Captain George Furbank scored two tries in his final home game for Northampton Saints as they overcame Leicester Tigers in an East Midlands derby classic to reach the Prem final.

Furbank. who will join Harlequins next season, touched down twice in the second half to ensure he has a shot at finishing his Northampton career with a second title.

In an absorbing semi-final at the Cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens, two early Tom Litchfield tries came either side of quickfire scores from Hanro Liebenberg. Freddie Steward, which had Tigers momentarily ahead.

Saints' Tommy Freeman. Leicester's Ollie Hassell-Collins then traded eye-catching tries before Litchfield completed his hat-trick to put Northampton 26-19 up at the break.

Furbank went over early in the second half, then put the seal on the high-scoring contest after Orlando Bailey's try. Hassell-Collins' second for Leicester sandwiched Archie McParland's fine effort for Saints.

Northampton advance to Twickenham, where they lifted the title in 2024,. will meet the winners of Saturday's second semi-final between defending champions Bath and Exeter Chiefs.

Tom Litchfield won Northampton's players' player of the season award

Northampton topped the table after 18 regular-season games to set up the highly anticipated showdown with their regional neighbours. who finished fourth in the table in Geoff Parling's first season as a head coach.

A bustling run from Henry Pollock down the right laid the foundations for what was the fastest try to be scored in a Prem play-off game. as Litchfield scythed through Tigers' resistance after just 87 seconds.

Leicester's response was swift. with Liebenberg powering over in what proved to be his final appearance for Leicester, before fit-again England international Steward stretched over to score with the right hand which he had thumb surgery on just weeks ago.

A mix-up between Steward. Billy Searle, as they attempted to field a searching grubber kick from Rory Hutchinson, allowed Litchfield to pounce for his second try.

A pinpoint Fin Smith kick to find Freeman on the right edge,. the quick thinking from the winger to then side-foot the ball on to himself, made for a spectacular third try for the hosts.

Pollock had another Saints try overruled before Tigers hit back in fine style, with Searle finding Hassell-Collins with a clever kick out wide in the 36th minute. the winger finishing well.

And yet the first-half scoring spree did not end there. with Litchfield muscling over with a last-gasp effort to complete his treble.

The game continued at a frenetic pace after the interval. with Furbank's first try followed up by a score from Bailey that kept Tigers in touch as Northampton threatened to pull away.

While the television match official chalked off an Elliot Millar Mills try on the hour mark, Saints eventually added to their advantage through McParland – who finished a flowing move that shifted through the hands of Tom Pearson, Fraser Dingwall. Furbank.

Hassell-Collins' second try of the night gave Leicester hope of a late fightback,. Furbank put the result beyond doubt when he dived over for a Saints side that finished with 14 men after Craig Wright was sin-binned in the 78th minute.

Northampton Saints head coach Sam Vesty told BBC Radio Northampton:

"This place was absolutely buzzing and that always helps. Our lads were absolutely right up for it and I think we wholly deserved that, to be honest.

"Our attack was fast,. because our ball was fast – Archie [McParland] had it off the floor so quickly – that the defence could never get set. I thought our breakdown and the fact our ball was so fast was probably the difference in the end.

"We were good. we gave them a few ins that were a bit cheap, which we need to solve because you can't give Leicester, you can't give good teams opportunities in your 22 because it is very hard to defend there.

"It's really important to enjoy this win. the fact that we have another week together to enjoy each other's company, get better at rugby and then go have an amazing experience.

"If we put our best foot forward, we give ourselves the best chance of hopefully getting across the line. We just have to go there and enjoy it."

Leicester Tigers head coach Geoff Parling told BBC Radio Leicester:

"I'm devastated, it's been an unbelievably good group that has worked hard for each other.

"To just fall now hurts,. also [I'm] incredibly proud of how the group has gone about its business over the year when everyone at the start of the season wrote us off.

"I reckon it was the hardest speech I've ever had to give in a changing room afterwards.

"We've had to battle over the last two weeks, we've had two short turnarounds into the game,. they won the league and had the luxury – and rightly so – to rest a lot of their players last week. And I thought they just looked like they had a little more zip than us."

Northampton Saints:Furbank; Freeman, Litchfield, Hutchinson, Hendy; Smith, McParland; Iyogun, Langdon, Millar Mills; Coles, Prowse, Kemeny, Pearson, Pollock.

Replacements:Wright, Fischetti, Green, Van der Mescht, Lockett, Chick, Weimann, Dingwall.

Leicester Tigers:Steward; Radwan, Wand, Bailey, Hassell-Collins; Searle, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Blamire, Heyes; Martin, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Moro.

Replacements:Clare, Van der Flier, Hurd, Henderson, Cracknell, Whiteley, Kata, Perese.

Referee:Luke Pearce.