Ealing Trailfinders 21-29 Leicester Tigers - Visitors secure place in Premiership Rugby Cup final with victory

Leicester Tigers secured their place in the Premiership Rugby Cup final with a 29-21 win over Ealing Trailfinders at the Trailfinders Sports Club.

They will face Gloucester, who won their semi-final against Exeter the day before, in March at Kingsholm Stadium in the tournament showpiece.

Aside from handling errors from the home side in the opening minutes, two Billy Twelvetrees penalties put Ealing ahead by six points with 20 minutes played after they showed early dominance at the set piece.

After a yellow card was shown to Bobby De Wee for deliberately kicking the ball out of Tom Whiteley’s hands from the ruck, their lead was soon spoiled by two Tigers tries from Phil Cokanasiga and Finn Theobold-Thomas as the visiting team made use of their one-man advantage.

Tigers lead 12-6 at the break, but the second half saw Ealing and Twelvetrees score first as they converted a penalty from the scrum. Their dominance at the scrum then prevailed once more and resulted in Tigers tighthead Dan Richardson being shown a yellow card, before prop Will Goodrick-Clarke’s efforts were rewarded with the try that put the home side ahead.

Soon after Jamie Shillcock had given Leicester a one-point lead with a penalty, an intercepted pass landed neatly into the hands of Cokanasiga, who sailed clear to further extend their lead.

A score from Ealing’s Mike Willemse and subsequent conversion from Twelvetrees made it a one-point match, but Matt Scott had the final word as he scored the last try to seal the win for Leicester Tigers.

Ealing had been unbeaten at home in all competitions this season and were unbeaten in all matches in their Premiership Rugby Cup until the semi-final.

They currently sit first in the Championship table, having only lost once in the competition this season. The home side pushed Leicester hard in their efforts to reach a first Premiership Rugby Cup final for the club, but were let down in parts by handling and accuracy errors.

Ealing Trailfinders Director of Rugby Ben Ward said: “Hard one to take, incredibly proud of this club and of the occasion we’ve put on today to host Leicester Tigers. We had our moments in the game and think that a couple of dropped balls, a couple of interceptions, a couple of kicks against the post and it could have been a different way.”

In facing Gloucester at Kingsholm in the final, the two clubs will face each other twice in seven days as they are set to meet in a Gallagher Premiership match at Welford Road the following week (22nd March) to contest the Slater Cup.

Leicester’s Phil Cokanasiga shone for the visitors in London, scoring once in each half to provide 10 points in the winning effort.

After the match, he said:“We knew that they were going to throw the kitchen sink as us, especially in that first half, it’s just how we dealt with it. I thought our forwards did a hell of a job to keep us in that.

“We just kept our discipline up there [in the second half]. We gave away too many penalties in the first half which allowed them in and so keeping those penalties out of our game was what kept us in.

“We know how much experience they have. These boys, most of them have played Prem so we knew what they were going to bring with them, it’s just how we dealt with that."

By progressing to the Cup final, Leicester’s hopes remain alive in the Premiership Rugby Cup, Gallagher Premiership, and Investec Champions Cup.

The centre added: “We’re still in three competitions which is good. We’re putting ourselves in the right position to hopefully win some silverware this year.”

Ealing Trailfinders XV: Bodilly 5, Holmes 7, Bird-Tulloch 6, Twelvetrees 6, Cordy-Redden 7, Lancaster 6, Hampson 6; Goodrick-Clarke 8, Cornish 8, Alo 8, De Wee 4, Maddison 7, Farrar 7, Reid 7, Smid 7

Replacements: Willemse 8, Whyte 7, Roots 7, Davidson 5, Hardwick 5, Williams 5, O’Brien (n/a), Montgomery 5

Leicester Tigers XV: Brown 6, Scott 8, Kelly 5, Cokanasiga 9, Hassell-Collins 5, Shillcock 6, Whiteley 6; Van Wyk 4, Theobold-Thomas 7, Richardson 3, Wells 7, Hatherell 5, Liebenberg 4, Rogerson 5, Cracknell 5

Replacements: Clare 6, Whitcombe 6, Hoyt 6, Carter 6, Ilione 6, Edwards 6, Wilkinson (n/a), Woodward (n/a)

5’ PENALTY! EALING TRAILFINDERS 3 - 0 LEICESTER TIGERS (TWELVETREES): Trailfinders overcome Tigers at the scrum, and they earn the penalty as the visitors lose stability. Twelvetrees adds an easy three points to open the scoring.

18’ PENALTY! EALING TRAILFINDERS 6 - 0 LEICESTER TIGERS (TWELVETREES): Twelvetrees adds another three points to double the Trailfinders lead!

20’ YELLOW CARD. EALING TRAILFINDERS 6 - 0 LEICESTER TIGERS (DE WEE): Bobby De Wee is shown a yellow card for deliberately kicking the ball out of Tom Whiteley's hands from the ground at the ruck.

24’ TRY! EALING TRAILFINDERS 6 - 7 LEICESTER TIGERS (COKANASIGA): Phil Cokanasiga bursts through the line to score the first try! Tigers set up the attack well from the maul before Cokanasiga breaks through the tackle to score. The conversion from Jamie Shillcock puts Tigers ahead for the first time.

32’ TRY! EALING TRAILFINDERS 6 - 12 LEICESTER TIGERS (THEOBOLD-THOMAS): Finn Theobold-Thomas scores on his first start for Tigers! He joins the back of the maul and the Tigers drive forces the defence to spin out, giving the hooker a clear path to the try line. The conversion is missed, but Tigers have managed to score two tries while being up by 14 men to give them the six-point lead after half an hour played. De Wee returns from his yellow card.

50’ PENALTY! EALING TRAILFINDERS 9 - 12 LEICESTER TIGERS (TWELVETREES): Tigers tighthead Dan Richardson is warned for giving away another penalty at the scrum, which Twelvetrees capitalises on to add another three points!

55’ YELLOW CARD. EALING TRAILFINDERS 9 - 12 LEICESTER TIGERS (RICHARDSON): Richardson is shown a yellow card as he's penalised at the scrum yet again as he drops his knee, after being warned by Leal just minutes prior.

57’ TRY! EALING TRAILFINDERS 14 - 12 LEICESTER TIGERS (GOODRICK-CLARKE): Ealing go ahead! Again, they dominate at the scrum and play with the advantage and Goodrick-Clarke dives over from short range. An impressive game, particularly in the last few minutes from the prop and he's rewarded with the try that puts his team ahead. Twelvetrees misses the conversion.

64’ PENALTY! EALING TRAILFINDERS 14 - 15 LEICESTER TIGERS (SHILLCOCK): Shillcock puts Tigers ahead!

64’ TRY! EALING TRAILFINDERS 14 - 22 LEICESTER TIGERS (COKANASIGA): Cokanasiga gets a second! Bodilly's pass is intercepted by the centre who speeds off to score his second, under the posts this time, and provide Leicester a lifeline. Shillcock adds the extras.

74’ TRY! EALING TRAILFINDERS 21 - 22 LEICESTER TIGERS (WILLEMSE): Ealing are back in the game! A well-worked try after a break from Lloyd Williams sees Mike Willemse stretch his arm over the line to score! Twelvetrees adds conversion to make it a one-point match.

78’ TRY! EALING TRAILFINDERS 21 - 29 LEICESTER TIGERS (SCOTT): Matt Scott sails clear to score for Tigers! The play is read well by replacement scrum-half Sam Edwards and Scott breaks free to score under the sticks after running a great line. Shillcock adds the two.

As well as the loss being Ealing’s first at home this season, it was also only the second time they have lost at home in two years. It was a well-fought contest from Ward’s side, but Leicester just got the better of them, an impressive victory given they hadn’t played a match in more than three weeks in the build up to the semi-final.

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