Leicester and London Irish set up title clash

LONDON (Reuters) - Heineken Cup finalists Leicester reached their fifth consecutive Premiership final after beating Bath and will play London Irish who overcame Harlequins on Saturday.

Leicester won 24-10 against Bath at the Walkers Stadium after first-half tries from centre Dan Hipkiss and flyhalf Sam Vesty were converted by Julien Dupuy, giving the hosts a 14-0 halftime lead.

Bath responded minutes after the restart with a touchdown from scrumhalf Michael Claassens but Ryan Davis failed to convert and Leicester replied with a Dupuy penalty.

Number eight Stuart Hooper's try on 57 minutes offered hope of a Bath revival. Davis again missed his kick and a converted Lewis Moody touchdown earned Leicester a place in the Twickenham final next Saturday.

Visitors Irish came through a nervy encounter against their London rivals Harlequins 17-0 to secure their first showpiece appearance.

Woeful kicking marred the first half, in which the hosts missed four penalties to Irish's two, and the visitors were then reduced to 14 men on the stroke of halftime when wing Sailosi Tagicakibau recieved a yellow card.

Despite their numerical advantage Harlequins still could not register any points, and Irish seized the initiative through a Delon Armitage penalty and a James Hudson try, converted by England fullback Armitage.

England 2003 World Cup winner Mike Catt sealed the victory with an interception try five minutes from time, again converted by Armitage, a leading candidate to replace injured Welsh centre Tom Shanklin on the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa from May to July.

Table-topping Leicester, who last won the Premiership in 2007, face Leinster in the Heineken Cup final at Murrayfield, Edinburgh a week after facing Irish.

(Writing by Neil Maidment and Tom Pilcher; Editing by Tony Jimenez. To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)