Twickenham (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Freddie Burns's last-minute drop-goal helped Leicester end a nine-year wait to be crowned champions of England once again as they defeated Saracens 15-12 in a dramatic Premiership final at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Tigers had been 12-6 ahead thanks to tries by Hanro Liebenberg and Jasper Wiese only for Saracens to draw level through the boot of England's Owen Farrell.
Bu Burns -- only on the field as a replacement for the injured George Ford -- dropped a goal that gave Leicester their 11th English title.
"That's my job to kick it but we were up against it and we pulled ourselves up from the depths again," the 32-year-old, now in his second stint with Leicester after playing club rugby in Japan, told the BBC.
"I said when I was five years old that I had two ambitions and that was to play for my country and to win the Premiership and with a year in Japan I thought it has gone."
Leicester dominated territory and possession but were unable to put Saracens away until Burns's drop-goal 22 seconds from time.
Two years ago, five-time Premiership champions Saracens were relegated from the top-flight after being hit with a 105-point deduction for breaches of salary cap rules.
Had it not been for that huge penalty, Leicester, the English club game's dominant force for much of the 1990s and 2000s, would have been demoted to the Championship after also finishing second last the previous season.
'Suffocated'
But under the guidance of former England captain Steve Borthwick, who started his coaching career while a player at Saracens, the Tigers were never headed at the top of the table during the regular campaign.
"Congratulations to Leicester, they have had a phenomenal season and been top of the league all year," said Saracens head coach Mark McCall.
"They trapped us in our half for long periods and backed that up with brilliant defensive work...We were a bit suffocated today."
Saracens opened the scoring through Farrell's fifth-minute penalty.
Opposing fly-half Ford, a boyhood friend of Farrell, limped off in the 23rd minute with what appeared to be an ankle injury.
It was not the way Ford would have wanted to bow out in his last Leicester appearance before joining Sale next season and put a question mark over his availability for England's three-Test tour of Australia in July.
Saracens were reduced to 14 men soon afterwards when Aled Davies was yellow-carded by referee Wayne Barnes for a shoulder challenge to the head of Leicester hooker Julian Montoya.
Leicester, in what had been an attritional match, capitalised on their advantage with two tries.
Full-back Freddie Steward made a break before finding Chris Ashton.The wing, playing against his old club, was brought down near Saracens' line but Liebenberg forced his way over for a try converted by Burns.
Elliot Daly's long-range penalty cut the gap to a point before Leicester scored their second try.
Ellis Genge, another of the England internationals on show, tapped a penalty after Saracens collapsed a scrum near their own line, with a pass from veteran scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth, preferred to current England No.9 Ben Youngs, sending in Wiese for a blindside try that left the Tigers six points ahead at half-time.
Five-times capped Burns missed a penalty early in the second half and the Tigers, for all their pressure, were unable to extend their lead.
Farrell's 64th-minute penalty reduced Leicester's lead to three points before he levelled the scores from in front of the posts four minutes from time.
But with Leicester a man down after Matt Scott's dangerous tackle on the impressive Billy Vunipola, it was Burns who had the final say.
