Premiership: Leicester Tigers 21-21 Saracens

Owen Williams gave his Leicester Tigers side a draw with the last kick of the game

Owen Williams' last-minute penalty earned Leicester Tigers a tightly contested draw at home to Saracens.

Charlie Hodgson's four penalties gave Saracens a 12-6 half-time lead, despite Marcelo Bosch's sin-bin, with Tigers' points coming from Williams' boot.

With rain pouring, the points continued to come solely from Williams and Hodgson penalties, and the former made it 18-18 with 12 minutes left.

Despite Hodgson putting his side ahead, Williams levelled with the last kick.

That meant Leicester maintained their formidable home record, having lost only once in their last 11 Premiership matches at Welford Road.

However, Sarries - who remain fourth in the Premiership table - will rue a missed chance to keep the pressure up on leaders Northampton.

With both sides missing key players on international duty, the visitors were first on the scoreboard after 10 minutes, Hodgson kicking successfully from 40m after Tigers were penalised at the scrum.

Sarries went down to 14 when Bosch was shown yellow for a dangerous tackle on Blaine Scully and, although former England fly-half Hodgson missed a penalty, he soon redeemed himself to give his side a six-point lead in the testing conditions.

The rain intensified with the game mostly confined to the midfield, but Williams then kicked his side level, the second penalty after a high tackle off the scrum from Richard Wigglesworth.

But Hodgson worked with the weather well and kicked two successive penalties straight down the middle to restore their six-point lead at the break.

Man-of-the-match Charlie Hodgson scored his 500th Premiership penalty to give his side a 12-6 lead at Welford Road

The second half continued in much the same vein with both sides conceding plenty of penalty chances. However Leicester began to get a foothold and drew level after a foul from a line-out.

The game opened up towards the end, with both sides pushing for a vital victory, before Hodgson capitalised after Graham Kitchener failed to roll away from a tackle.

But Tigers, who gave England prop Dan Cole 65 minutes as he continues his return from a neck injury, pushed once more, and the topsy-turvy match ended with honours even after Sarries loosehead Rhys Gill was controversially penalised for not scrummaging correctly in a Tigers scrum 30m from the line.

Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill:

"Owen Williams missed one before half time, which was pretty rubbish. But one thing about Owen, he's not flaky, he is mentally tough and I had no doubts about that kick [at the end].

"If you had given me a draw before the game I'd have taken it. They are a good team, we have got a bit of firepower missing and the conditions didn't help."

Saracen's director of rugby Mark McCall on the final Leicester penalty: "I thought it was a penalty for us; it's obvious to most people who have watched it.

"You are required to stay square, which he [Gill] did. Their tighthead is under pressure and he goes three metres in the air so you have nothing to scrummage against. Most people could see what happened.

"But we should never have been in that position. It was a very tight game, a bit of an arm wrestle, but we seemed to have the edge all game."

Leicester: Tait, Scully, Smith, Allen, Benjamin, O. Williams, Mele, Rizzo, H. Thacker, Cole, Thorn, Kitchener, Gibson, Salvi, Crane.

Replacements: Bell for Scully (40), Balmain for Cole (65).

Not Used: Farnworth, Bristow, De Chaves, Grant, Harrison, Burns.

Saracens: Goode, Ashton, Bosch, Wyles, Strettle, Hodgson, Wigglesworth, Barrington, George, Figallo, Botha, Hargreaves, Brown, Burger, Wray.

Replacements: D. Taylor for Bosch (57), Gill for Barrington (71), Hamilton for Botha (57), Fraser for Burger (61).

Not Used: Sharman, Du Plessis, Spencer, Ransom.

Sin Bin: Bosch (11).

Att: 21,680

Ref: Tim Wigglesworth (RFU).