'This is not an achievement for me': Michael Cheika fuelled by heartache

Michael Cheika refused to celebrate Leicester’s 21-16 play-off success against Sale after declaring he would only be satisfied with victory in next Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership final.

The Tigers will face Bath in the showpiece at Allianz Stadium after two stunning finishes by wing Adam Radwan and a dynamic try by replacement Izaia Perese were enough to edge Sale.

There were jubilant scenes upon the final whistle at Mattiolli Woods Welford Road with a number of players, including club stalwarts Dan Cole and Ben Youngs, making their final home appearances, but for Cheika the hard work begins now.

“This is not an achievement for me – winning it (the Premiership) is the achievement,” said Cheika, the former Australia and Argentina head coach, who will take charge of Leicester for the final time at Twickenham.

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“I don’t want to be a sad sack, but I can’t leave any room for complacency around how well we’ve done to make it.

“I’ve been doing this for too long. You get to a World Cup final, you think about how good that is and then when you lose, it’s the worst feeling you’ll ever have.

“I want to make sure that I leave no room in my own personal performance to allow anything to derail our preparation.”

Radwan provided the highlights of a hard-fought clash in the East Midlands with two brilliant tries, the first seeing him wrong foot the Sharks defence and the second made possible by athletically catching an overhit Handre Pollard chip.

Referencing the second try, Cheika said: “Adam grew about a foot, I reckon. A foot and a half! He’s not the tallest of fellas, Adam, but he got there.

“He runs at an excellent clip. He’s fast and he’s got a great sense of ball skills like timing and footwork and balance. And he was brave enough to do it.

“You’ve got to be brave to go and do that stuff and if you don’t try it, you never know if it’ll happen or not. I’m not going to rap him up too much, but it was a good try.

“Pollard had the courage to make the kick and then Adam had the courage to do that extra little bit to go and get it.”

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson admitted Leicester deserved their chance to succeed Northampton as champions.

“The result is crushing. The season crashes to a very abrupt end. I don’t think we deserved to get to a final on that performance,” Sanderson said.

“Leicester played their game very well and deserved to win by a few more if I’m honest. In the first half, no facet of our game was ticking.

“Fair play to Leicester, they are a really well-coached team and they showed they had the minerals to get to the final.”