Northampton SaintsÂ’ stars preview their Aviva Premiership Rugby semi-final

13:31 12 May 2011

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The Saints are bidding to reach a second major final in 2011, when they take on Leicester Tigers in their Aviva Premiership Rugby semi-final at Welford Road this Saturday.

With a Heineken Cup final to come seven days later, victory over their East Midlands rivals and reigning champions will set up back-to-back finals for the Saints, with the Twickenham showpiece set for May 28th.

Leicester left it late to hold-off Saracens and claim top spot in the table, scoring three tries in the last 11 minutes of their 32-23 round 22 victory over London Irish.

That win at Welford Road was a 14th win in the Tigers' last 15 games and ensured they finished two points ahead of Sarries to set up Saturday's mouth-watering clash.

Saints themselves struggled early on in their 31-24 defeat of Leeds last weekend, trailing by 21 points at one stage. Scores from Phil Dowson, Chris Ashton and a penalty try pulled them back into the game however and ensured Jim Mallinder's men remained comfortably ahead of Bath in fourth place.

The regular season meetings between the two sides ended in incredibly similar results in favour of the home side, Tigers avenging an opening day 27-19 defeat at Franklin's Gardens with a 27-16 reverse at the start of the year.

With the Saints on a run of six wins from seven themselves, it looks set to be a cracker for the right to face either Saracens or Gloucester at HQ.