Aviva Premiership: Freddie Burns penalty wins derby for Leicester

Leicester's Ben Youngs feeds his back line

Freddie Burns kicked a last-gasp penalty to give Leicester a 30-27 derby win against Northampton at Welford Road.

The Tigers stormed 21-0 ahead through converted tries from centre Matt Smith, No 8 Lachlan McCaffrey and fly-half Owen Williams, who finished with 11 points before departing nursing a suspected broken jaw.

But Saints hit back, initially cutting the gap to four points through tries by Teimana Harrison and George North - JJ Hanrahan added two conversions and a penalty - before two second-half penalties by Burns, Williams' replacement, appeared to seal the deal for Leicester.

But former Tigers flanker Jamie Gibson scored a third Saints try that Stephen Myler converted, then a 76th-minute Myler penalty made it 27-27, before Burns' injury-time penalty saw Leicester home.

Lachlan McCaffrey goes over for Leicester's second try

England centre Manu Tuilagi made a long-awaited comeback from injury as new England head coach Eddie Jones looked on, but he missed out on a chance to watch Northampton hooker - and possible new England skipper - Dylan Hartley in action as a rib injury sidelined him from selected bench duty.

In front of a crowd of 25,849 - Leicester's record home attendance for the 20-year professional era - the Tigers took just two minutes to get score. Smith sliced through the Saints defence for a wonderful try that Williams converted for a 7-0 advantage.

The Tigers upped the ante with two more tries in four minutes to really put Northampton under pressure. McCaffrey touched down from a brilliantly executed driving lineout after substitute Tom Croft won quality possession, then Tigers scrum-half Ben Youngs capitalised on more terrible Northampton defending by surging clear and sending his unmarked half-back partner Williams over for another score.

Williams' third successful conversion made it 21-0, and although Hanrahan opened Northampton's account through a 29th-minute penalty, Leicester continued to enjoy complete control of the game.

Northampton finally found some form, scoring 10 points during the closing minutes of the half. The Saints forwards began to assert a degree of control, capitalising on a couple of quick penalty awards before driving a lineout and enabling Harrison to claim a touchdown that Hanrahan converted, making it 21-10 at half-time.

George North charges at the Leicester defence

And it got better for Northampton within five minutes of the restart, when North gathered a bobbling ball to race 70 metres unopposed for a try that Hanrahan converted and give Tigers further cause for concern following an opening half hour when they rarely broke sweat.

Northampton thought they had scored their third try when prop Paul Hill raced for the line and touched down, but referee Wayne Barnes called play back, and after consulting with his television match official, he ruled out the score following a high tackle by Saints centre Luther Burrell on Peter Betham.

Burns rubbed salt into their wounds by kicking a 54th-minute penalty that meant Leicester led 24-17.

Another Burns penalty opened up a 10-point gap, then Gibson's effort - after Leicester prop Dan Cole was yellow-carded - and the Myler extras ensured a tense finale.

Myler kept his nerve with an equalising strike four minutes from time, but Burns came up trumps during the dying seconds and Tigers make it seven wins from nine Premiership wins this term.