Leicester join Stade in final

Leicester 19-12 Gloucester

Zurich Premiership champions Leicester will know they have been in a game today after being pushed to the limit by Gloucester in a frantic European Cup semi-final at Vicarage Road.

Despite only having one try the tie was full of incident and never took a breath for the entire 85 minutes that were played.

It was a solid start from both teams with Gloucester getting the first points on the board through Simon Mannix.They traded a few kicks fore the next 15 minutes before Leicester broke the mould and putseven points on the board.

Tim Stimpson showed great pace down the line and then inside with the Gloucester defence standing and admiring.Leon Lloyd chose the right line coming through the midfield and took the pass from Stimpson at full pelt.A half hearted tackle let the big centre through to touch under the posts.

Gloucester did not break however and controlled much of the possession for the rest of the half.Mannix claimed three points, from two attempts, back after some solid attacking rugby.That sent a clear signal to the Leicester who for their part defended well and kept the damage to a minimum.

After weathering the Gloucester revival they then set about their own and in doing so won a penalty under the posts which was converted by Stimpson to leave the halftime score, as it was in Lille, at 16 points to nine.

If it were possible the second half was even more frenetic despite both teamshaving only one score each.

It started furiously with Martin Johnson and co thundering upfield for Leicester.Their approach was met by a defiant Gloucester who took it all and then gave it back.The underdogs forced their way back into it and won a penalty under the posts for their troubles.Mannix obliged and the gap was four.

As is the case in matches of this calibre there was a good old fashioned ruck on fifty minutes as the players began to try alternative methods to breaking each other down.The result was a yellow card for Leicester captain Johnson and a spell in the sin bin.

It mattered not according to Leicester and they continued to press with Ireland’s Geordan Murphy and England’s Tim Stimpson looking dangerous without really creating a clear-cut chance.

It did yield a penalty though and the six point lead was restored by Stimpson.

That was the end of the scoring but by no means the end of the tie.Gloucester refused to lie down and even looked like they might nick it off an obviously shattered Leicester side at the end.They held on despite the five minutes injury time played and booked their spot in the Paris final against Munsters’ fortuitous conquerers Stade Francais.