2 hours ago Northampton topped the array aft 18 regular play games to acceptable up the highly anticipated showdown with their determination neighbours, who finished 4th successful the array successful Geoff Parling's archetypal play arsenic a caput coach.
A bustling tally from Henry Pollock down the close laid the foundations for what was the fastest effort to beryllium scored successful a Prem play-off game, arsenic Litchfield scythed done Tigers' absorption aft conscionable 87 seconds.
Leicester's effect was swift - with Liebenberg powering implicit successful what proved to beryllium his last quality for Leicester, earlier fit-again England planetary Steward stretched implicit to people with the close manus which helium had thumb country connected conscionable weeks ago.
A mix-up betwixt Steward and Billy Searle, arsenic they attempted to tract a searching grubber footwear from Rory Hutchinson, allowed Litchfield to pounce for his 2nd try.
A pinpoint Fin Smith footwear to find Freeman connected the close edge, and the speedy reasoning from the winger to past side-foot the shot connected to himself, made for a spectacular 3rd effort for the hosts.
Pollock had different Saints effort overruled earlier Tigers deed backmost successful good style, with Searle uncovering Hassell-Collins with a clever footwear retired wide successful the 36th infinitesimal and the winger finishing well.
And yet the first-half scoring spree did not extremity there, with Litchfield muscling implicit with a past gasp effort to implicit his treble.
The crippled continued astatine a frenetic gait aft the interval, with Furbank's archetypal effort followed up by a people from Bailey that kept Tigers successful interaction arsenic Northampton threatened to propulsion away.
While the tv lucifer authoritative chalked disconnected an Elliot Millar Mills effort connected the hr mark, Saints yet added to their vantage done McParland – who finished a flowing determination that shifted done the hands of Tom Pearson, Fraser Dingwall and Furbank.
Hassell-Collins' 2nd effort of the nighttime gave Leicester anticipation of a precocious fightback, but Furbank enactment the effect beyond uncertainty erstwhile helium dived implicit for his ain brace of tries for a Saints broadside that finished with 14 men aft Craig Wright was sin-binned successful the 78th minute.
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.
Sin-bin: Wright (78)
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.
English (US)·