Leicester 15 – 12 Saracens

Back-rows Hanro Liebenberg, Jasper Wiese score tries, with replacement Freddie Burns – on for injured George Ford – adding a conversion and late drop-goal; Saracens score through Owen Farrell (three), Elliot Daly (one) penalties, levelling the final from 12-3 behind with four minutes left

Leicester Tigers won their first Premiership title since 2013

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 Twickenham.

Having scored the only tries of the final through blindside flanker Hanro Liebenberg and No 8 Jasper Wiese, Leicester should have scored 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 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 fortunate not to receive a first-half red card, as scrum-half Aled Davies was shown yellow by Wayne Barnes despite his shoulder connecting with the head of Tigers hooker Julian Montoya.

Tigers lost a man to the 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.

Freddie Burns kicks a final-minute drop goal

Freddie Burns celebrates his match-winning drop goal

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.

Leicester Tigers’ Richard Wigglesworth passes the ball

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 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, and perhaps the hugely significant moment followed on 26 minutes when the TMO called for Davies’ tackle on Montoya to be looked at.

George Ford was forced off with an ankle injury in the first half of the Premiership final on his final appearance for Leicester

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, who nearly got over. From there, Tigers stayed patient to score on penalty advantage.

Just past the half-hour mark, centre Elliot Daly reduced the deficit to a point courtesy of a 48-metre penalty after Tigers failed to roll away following a big Vunipola carry.

But Leicester struck again just before Davies returned, with Wiese scoring after prop and skipper Ellis Genge took a tap-and-go penalty and Tigers led by five points at the interval.

Leicester Tigers’ Jasper Wiese (centre) scores their second try of the Premiership final

Leicester had all the momentum, and they exerted relentless pressure midway through the third quarter after Burns missed a long-range penalty.

Saracens’ defence was tested in all areas, yet they managed to keep Tigers out and still trailed by six points entering the final 20 minutes.

Farrell’s second-successful penalty brought Saracens back to within touching distance and the closing stages proved inevitably frantic, with Tigers substitute Scott being yellow-carded for a high challenge on Vunipola, and Farrell’s 76th-minute penalty levelled it up.

Burns, though, had the final say as the 32-year-old dropped a goal and Leicester could celebrate wildly.