Image source, Getty Images

And breathe...

What an afternoon, what a 24 hours of Premiership Rugby.

Sale battled away gamely at Welford Road all afternoon but in truth the difference was eight minutes of magic from the twinkle-toed Adam Radwan who scooted through a gap for the first try and then Superman-dived to catch a cross-field kick in the corner.

Izaia Perese scorched away to seal the deal, though the Sharks were piling on late pressure right until the rather controversial final whistle, when the visitors wanted a penalty for a tackle on Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Bath against Leicester, then, at Twickenham, for the biggest prize in the land... it should be one for the ages, and on the performances in the semi-final it could also be a classic.

Thanks for your company over the past 24 hours and we look forward to seeing you back here on Saturday for the big one.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Chris Ashton
Former England, Leicester & Sale wing on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Adam Radwan has really added an X factor to the backline this season. He's got more and more comfortable as the season has gone on. His two finishes were absolutely ridiculous.

Handre Pollard was outstanding too today apart from his kicks which will probably never happen again so it's good he's got it out of his system today.

It's game on next week now. It's two massive clubs and two massive fan bases. What an occasion.

Leicester needed a man with emotion in his voice and every time you hear Michael Cheika speak you know he's got bags and bags of that. He says the right things and pulls on emotional strings.

When you've got a club that is as big as this it means so much to a lot. There's a real core group of Leicester Tigers players here that are young, ambitious, England players that grew up watching as a kid - you don't need much coaching really apart from the finer details.

It's the emotional side of the game you need them to buy into and Cheika's your man that can do that.

Leicester Tigers

Dan Cole, who played his final game for Leicester at Welford Road before retirement, told TNT Sports: "It means a lot to make another final. The support spurred us on today.

"Bath are the favourites but we are going to go there and put it all on the line.

"I knew at the beginning of the year we had a brilliant squad. This club means everything to me, I came here as a boy and sat up there, played here since I was 15, played with so many fantastic players. It’s a privilege and an honour to play here."

Image source, Getty Images

Sale Sharks

Alex Sanderson, Sale director of rugby, told TNT Sports: "I am obviously gutted to have gone out in the semi. I believed we had the minerals to go all the way.

"Unfortunately today we showed some basic errors in some of the most basic parts of the game.

"I think Leicester are deserved winners, they probably executed their game plan better than we did.

"I’m really privileged to work with a special group. We're a pretty young group and I am excited already about what we can do next year and moving forward."

Chris Ashton
Former England and Northampton wing on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Leicester had the crowd on their side all game, they were so loud and they put pressure on the Sale players to compete with that too.

There was never a period really where Sale had any sort of control so the crowd were always behind their team which adds more pressure to Sale because you can't hear each other clearly and messages are not getting across.

Leicester Tigers used that to its full force.

When I was here I was amazed by the amount of support the team gets, probably something I took for granted before coming here. It's only when you play for the team you realise just how many people support the club.

Leicester Tigers

Michael Cheika, Leicester director of rugby, told TNT Sports: "You get nervous but you do enjoy it. There’s part of you inside that loves that tight battle.

"I thought we played really good today and we still couldn’t get away from them, which shows how good they were.

"They lifted their game, we didn’t drop, but we didn’t lift our game to go with them - but we hung strong at the end."

Leicester Tigers

Image source, PA Media

Ben Youngs, retiring after Leicester's final against Bath, told TNT Sports: "This is the bit you’ll miss, big games, pressure moments. That defensive set at the end was tough.

"The crowd was awesome and we look forward to next week. We have given ourselves a shot. We have worked very hard but we still have a job to do against a team who have been on fire this season.

"Michael Cheika is one of the best coaches I've worked with, I nearly canned it last year, I am so glad I came back for another year.

"He’s someone you can believe in straight away. What a guy. It’s a shame it’s only one year."

Leicester Tigers

Adam Radwan, two-try Tigers hero, told TNT Sports:

"It's gone really well (since I joined from Newcastle). I made the move for days and games like this, and we have one more to go.

"I had two nice tries early on but a lot of it is good work from the lads inside and I'm just on the end of it.

"I'll enjoy this, this atmosphere is unbelievable, I won't think about next week just yet."

Image source, Rex Features

Chris Ashton
Former England, Leicester & Sale wing on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Leicester Tigers played their game plan to perfection. They controlled the territory. They missed a couple of kicks to pull themselves clear and they'll be annoyed at that because they should have been way more ahead than they were in the end.

Sale just offered very little really. They had occasions during the game. We've seen so much good attack from them all year with George Ford pulling the strings but silly errors and silly penalties and they didn't have enough in the end.

They'll be really disappointed but this club [Leicester] deserves to go to another final.

What a final we're going to have next weekend.

Got your breath back yet?

Read Chris Harby's match report from an absolute barnstormer here.

But stick with us as we've got more reaction to come...

Leicester Tigers

Julian Montoya, Tigers skipper and player of the match told TNT Sports:

"Today was mental, I can't be prouder. We are one win away.

"(My family) arrived yesterday, they believed in us, they are going to stay a bit longer.

"I like living things with passion and emotion, I love this team so much. The important thing is we trust each other. We will work to get better.

"Sale had an unbelievable season, today was a proper game. I am going to enjoy 24 hours and then (back to work)."

Chris Jones
BBC rugby union correspondent on Radio 5 Sports Extra

Image source, Rex Features

This famous old club with its record of winning Premiership titles is back at the big dance again.

It's like they've won the title. A special win from Leicester.

It means the likes of Handre Pollard, Julian Montoya, Mike Brown but particularly Dan Cole and Ben Youngs will have a chance of ending their Leicester careers and their rugby careers in the best possible way.

As we expected it was tense, it was tight, Sale scrapped till the last and perhaps had their chances to win it but that Izaia Perese try has sent Leicester back to the big time once more.

Definitely a note of controversy at the end of the game, it's fair to say...

Image source, PA Media

Leicester will face Bath in the Premiership final at Twickenham next Saturday after an epic tussle with Sale ends in a narrow victory.

The fact it came down to the very final play well past 80 minutes is fitting after an almighty struggle between two powerhouse teams.

So many key moments but it will be Adam Radwan's first-half pair of tries which will live longest in the memory, jinking his way through three defenders to touch down his first on 20 minutes and then diving at full stretch to haul in a Handre Pollard kick to the corner eight minutes later.

This match had absolutely everything, and was played in weather that you would expect in September, January and, finally, June.

Image source, PA Media

It could be all over, but the TMO is looking at a tackle from Freddie Steward on Luke Cowan-Dickie on the right touchline deep inside the 22.

No arms in that tackle, or are there... if so it's a knock-on...

Wonderful tackle from Ollie Hassell-Collins drops Joe Carpenter as Sale try to break down the right.

This is an incredible finish to an epic game.

One mistake from either side and it's all over.

We are at 81 minutes...

Bill Rice
BBC Radio Manchester

Sale have given absolutely everything today but at the moment it's not quite going to be enough.

Is it going to be semi-final agony again for Alex Sanderson's side?

Sale need something and they have the ball in hand in the Tigers half in the final minute.

Tick, tick, tick...

Leicester are managing this clock with their wily old heads.