Underdog Saints challenge Leicester at Welford Road

The Saints have a mountain to climb in the form of Leicester Tigers at Welford Road if they wish to book a place in the final next Saturday. 

The second semi-final is Leicester’s to lose after they put together an extraordinary season which saw them string together a total of 16 wins on the trot and only appeared on the wrong side of the scoreboard on four occasions. 

In the context of the season as a whole, the advantage clearly lies with Leicester who have had the better of Saints on two occasions, the first one in Round 7: 

And the second in the 16th Round: 

Saints boss Chris Boyd had the following to say ahead of the match: 

 “We’ve been in knockout mode for the last couple of months – but whenever you get to this point in any competition, the stakes go up, the margins for error get smaller, and the space to execute your game plan disappears. 

“So, we’ll have less time for our skill execution, physicality and decision-making, but we’ve worked hard on getting a higher level of consistency in our performance and we’re well prepared for the battle ahead of us.” 

Leicester Head Coach Steve Borthwick heaped praise on the Welford Road faithful while noting the danger posed by Northampton.

“I have felt from day one an immense amount of support. The crowd at Tigers have been tremendous for this team," he said.

“Northampton are very dangerous in the phase attack they play. That is something we have to defend really well.

“One of the experiences from the Leinster game was how clinical they were in taking their opportunities and we were not clinical enough. There is a big lesson there about not giving opportunities to opposition of that quality.”

Key facts: 

• Leicester Tigers have won three of their last four Premiership matches against Northampton Saints (L1) after winning just one of the previous five (L4); however, three of their last four defeats against Northampton Saints have come at home. The Tigers won their only previous home tie against Saints in the semi-finals of the Premiership (11-3 in May 2011). 
• Leicester Tigers have lost their last four matches in the play-offs of the Premiership, however, each of those four losses came away from home; in fact, they have won all seven of their previous semi-final ties at home, without conceding over 16 points on any occasion. 
• Leicester Tigers have won five of their last six Premiership matches (L1), including their last three in a row; they have won all 12 of their matches at home in the league this term, with those wins coming by an average margin of 15 points. 
• Northampton Saints have lost their last two matches in the play-offs of the Premiership after winning three of their previous four (L1); they have won just one of their previous six semi-final ties away from home (v Saracens, 2012/13). 
• Northampton Saints have won six of their last seven Premiership matches (L1) after losing four in a row previously; however, their only defeat during that period came in their most recent away game (38-42 v Saracens in Round 25). Saints have scored 32+ points in each of their last six matches 
• Leicester Tigers have averaged 35 kicks from hand per game in this season’s Premiership, no other side has averaged 30+; consequently, they are the only side to average 1000+ kicking metres per game in the league this season (1091) – Northampton Saints rank third for kicking meters this term (835 per game). 
• Leicester Tigers have conceded just eight 22 entries per game in the Premiership this season, fewer than any other side, while they’re also the only team to conceded fewer than two points per 22 entry (1.92). 
• Northampton have recorded an average gain of 4.5 metres in the Premiership this season, no other side has averaged as many metres over the gainline per carry this campaign; Saints also rank 2nd for both line breaks (6.4) and offloads (8.3) per game. 
• No player has averaged more points per 80 minutes than Northampton’s Dan Biggar (12.3) or Leicester’s George Ford (12.0), of players to feature for at least 600 minutes in the Premiership this season. 
• Northampton Saints’ Alex Mitchell has been directly involved in 24 tries in the Premiership this season (11 tries, 13 assists), more than any other player, while he’s also been involved in the joint most line breaks (31, level with Tom de Glanville), making 17 himself and making 14 break assist passes.