Leicester 33 - 27 Saracens: Moody exits Tigers in the 'best style'

LEWIS Moody insisted he had no regrets about leaving Leicester after helping the Tigers retain their Guinness Premiership title with a dramatic 33-27 victory over Saracens.

The England captain will join long-time rivals Bath later this summer after Leicester, his home-town club, failed to find room for him under their salary cap.

Bath's director of rugby Steve Meehan snapped Moody up quickly, desperate to tap into the kind of winning DNA that saw Leicester snatch victory at Twickenham on Saturday.

Leaving Welford Road will be a wrench after spending 14 glittering years as the heartbeat of English rugby's most successful club. Moody's removal men will be packing away a remarkable seven Premiership winners' medals and three Heineken Cup medals along with all of his international honours.

"It has been a huge part of my life since I was a schoolboy. My folks used to take me to Welford Road and we would be in the stands shouting 'Deano, Deano' with all the other fans," reflected Moody.

"I have had a wonderful 14 years. I have loved playing with this team and I have loved being involved with this club. That will never change. I have no regrets. It is a professional game and we look to new challenges.

But this was the best way to go out and in the best style."

Moody was watching from the touchline, having already been substituted to a rousing send-off, as an epic Premiership final reached its dramatic conclusion.

Saracens had fought back from 23-14 down to take a one-point lead with four minutes remaining only for the Tigers to land the killer blow immediately from the kick-off.

Scott Hamilton claimed the restart and Dan Hipkiss, who had come off the bench to make his first appearance in three months, barreled his way through the Saracens defence to score the decisive try.

This coup de grace came after an epic final in which the lead changed hands seven times.

Centre Matt Smith and scrum-half Ben Youngs had scored first-half tries for Leicester and fly-half Toby Flood finished with 18 points.

Saracens pushed the Tigers all the way to their ninth league title, with No8 Ernst Joubert scoring twice and retiring fly-half Glen Jackson kicking 17 points, including a 76th minute kick which had edged Saracens ahead before that late rally.

Scorers:

Leicester: Tries: Smith, Youngs, Hipkiss. Cons: Flood 3. Pens: Flood 4.

Saracens: Tries: Joubert 2. Cons: Jackson. Pens: Jackson 5.

Leicester:

G Murphy, S Hamilton, M Smith, A Allen, A Tuilagi, T Flood, B Youngs, M Ayerza, G Chuter, M Castrogiovanni, L Deacon, G Parling, T Croft, L Moody, J Crane. Replacements: D Hipkiss for Smith (68), J Staunton for Tuilagi (74), D Cole for Castrogiovanni (67), C Newby for Moody (68). Not used: J Duffey, B Stankovich, B Woods, J Grindal.

Saracens:

A Goode, M Tagicakibau, A Powell, B Barritt, C Wyles, G Jackson, N de Kock, M Aguero, S Brits, P Du Plessis, S Borthwick, H Vyvyan, J Burger, A Saull, E Joubert. Replacements: K Ratuvou for Tagicakibau (57), J Marshall for de Kock (65), R Gill for Aguero (49), M Botha for Borthwick (45), J Melck for Saull (65). Not used: F Ongaro, Skuse, Hougaard.