Leicester Tigers look forward to more 'magical scenes' as rugby play-off finals set-up

Freddie Steward of Leicester Tigers gets away from Tommy Freeman during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Semi Final match between Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints at Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium on June 11, 2022 in Leicester, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

It sets up a Gallagher Premiership play-off final with Saracens at Twickenham next weekend after their defeat of Harlequins in the all-London semi-final.

"The fans were incredible, magical. Going over the whitewash and turning round to see the fans was spectacular," said Steward. "I’m so exited to see the green and red out at Twickenham next week.

"Every week we have a gameplan that we think is going to be the best way to beat the opposition. This week was no different. We are the players to put the gameplan into action and we fought for eachother and it was great to see."

He admits there was little time to celebrate as the Tigers moved seven points clear en route to the 27-14 win.

"I was in the right place at the right time and I've been lucky to get on the end of a couple in the last few weeks. But you score a try like that and ther'es still a game to win so it was straight back to the halfway line."

Team-mate Dan Cole insists the team will enjoy the success before turning attention to Sarries who won 34-17.

"Straight away you look to the challenge ahead, but at the same time we've won a semi-final and we haven't been in one for the Premiership for a long time. Its also the final match for a few boys at Welford Road and you have to appreciate that. We'll spend 48 hours enjoying this victory and then Monday morning it's on to Saracens," he told LTTV.

After erby day in the Premiership, Stormers set up an all-South Africa URC Grand final between the DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls.

Warrick Gelant scored an 85th-minute try and Manie Libbok struck a nerveless winning conversion as the Stormers clinched a dramatic 17-15 victory over Ulster to take the final from Belfast to Cape Town.

Ulster looked to be heading towards victory with their 15-10 half-time advantage holding firm for most of the second half and the Stormers reduced to 14 men following Adre Smith's red card.

However, a box-office conclusion saw the hosts find Gelant in space on the left wing to pull level before Libbok - who had missed with all of his previous attempts at goal - fired over the winning kick.

Next weekend's final will now be staged in Cape Town, with the Stormers earning hosting duties having finished higher than the Bulls in the URC table.

Bulls' final qualification, by an even narrower margin with a 17-16 win over Leinster on Friday night denies the Irish side a trophy for the first time since 2017.

“We knew that if we could get into their faces and win the game physically, start implementing our strengths, we could come out with the win, and we executed to perfection,” said captain Marcell Coetzee.

“Good job for the boys but the job’s not done yet and there’s one more game to go and we’re very pleased with that."