Tigers scored three further tries after the break through Hamilton, a penalty try and Tom Varndell’s first of the season to bring Welford Road to its feet.

England international hooker George Chuter was recalled to the front row, while wing Johne Murphy and flanker Ben Herring returned after injuries ruled out Matt Smith and Marco Wentzel. Hipkiss made his 100th appearance for the club, lining up alongside skipper Aaron Mauger at centre.

The Tigers replacements included young forwards Calum Green and Dan Hemingway as well as senior internationals Mefin Davies, Derick Hougaard and Tom Varndell.

Saracens, meanwhile, recalled Hugh Vyvyan, David Seymour, Adam Powell and Chris Wyles to their starting line-up. The visitors made a late change to their line-up at inside centre where Ben Jacobs replaced Brad Barritt.

Tigers roared into a fifth-minute lead after unrelenting pressure from the kick-off. Tigers put together more than a dozen phases and moved the ball across the width of the pitch before Deacon punched a hole from 3m out to score to the right of the posts. Scrum-half Julien Dupuy slotted the conversion to put Tigers 7-0 ahead.

Tigers were coming forward in waves and manufactured an overlap on the left wing but Johne Murphy was unable to pick up Scott Hamilton’s pass, knocking on as he attempted to gather at his feet. Tigers put the pressure on at the resulting scrum and were awarded their first penalty of the game, which Dupuy kicked to extend the lead to 10-0.

Saracens put points on the board with their first attack of the game. The visitors went through a series of phases and looked to have prised the Tigers defence open when Rodd Penney found space on the left. But the wing cut inside to his forwards and the ball was recycled to scrum-half Justin Marshall, who was on the mark with a drop-goal from an acute angle to the left of the posts.

Dan Hemingway then replaced Ben Herring in the back-row and Ben Youngs came on for Dupuy at scrum-half.

Saracens drew themselves level after 23 minutes when Marshall’s miss-pass was collected by Chris Wyles on the bounce and he ran through to score under the posts. Glen Jackson, the Guinness Premiership’s top points scorer this season, added to his haul with the conversion to level the scores at 10-10.

A quickly-taken tapped penalty by Youngs then took Tigers from their own 22 to the edge of Saracens danger zone. The ball was fed to Mauger, who slid a grubber kick through that almost deceived Penney with Hipkiss breathing down his neck.

It signalled a period of Tigers pressure that resulted in Leicester reclaiming the lead five minutes before the break. The forwards shoved Saracens off their own ball at a scrum and, after a couple of phases, the ball was spun to the right where Alesana Tuilagi and Hamilton combined for the New Zealand international to step off the wing and score. Vesty, who had taken over kicking duties, was wide to the right with his kick.

Tigers survived a scare with the break approaching when Wikus van Heerden made the most of a missed tackle on the Saracens 22 to take play deep into Leicester territory before Hugh Vyvyan knocked on.

Tigers added a third try on the stroke of half-time. Mauger opened up the Saracens defence with a brilliant dummy before Tuliagi took play up to the 5m line. The chance looked to have gone as the Samoan wing was tackled but Hipkiss followed up to collect his offload and score behind the posts. Vesty’s conversion gave Tigers a 22-10 half-time lead.

The lead was cut by three points shortly after the restart when Tigers were adjudged to have played the ball on the floor and Saracens fly-half Jackson kicked the penalty. Jackson then added three more points nine minutes into the half, when Tigers were whistled for going off their feet.

Derick Hougaard, who was on as a blood replacement for Vesty, pulled a 45m penalty to the left of the posts. But he made no mistake moments later when he slotted a penalty from 30m to put Tigers 25-16 ahead.

Tigers then added 21 points in the last 15 minutes with three converted tries.

They were denied their bonus-point try and Hemingway his first in the Guinness Premiership when they were called back for Chuter’s forward pass. But it was only a temporary reprieve for Saracens with Hamilton scoring a brilliantly-worked try with 15 minutes remaining to claim a bonus point. A rolling maul took Tigers into the Saracens half before the ball was moved right where Hamilton took Vesty’s flat pass and raced in from 40m. Vesty’s conversion put Tigers 32-16 ahead.

Tigers then had the crowd on their feet with a training-ground move off an attacking scrum that put replacement Tom Varndell away. However, referee David Rose adjudged Vesty’s final pass had gone forward.

Calum Green, 18, came on as a replacement for Deacon in the 70th minute to make his Tigers debut.

Tigers continued to put the pressure on with a series of attacking scrums on the Saracens 5m. And, after referee Rose penalised the Saracens pack on a number of occasions for infringements at the scrum, Tigers were awarded a penalty try which was converted by Hougaard to put Tigers 39-16 ahead.

Varndell added a sixth try with a fine individual effort with 90 seconds remaining. The wing gathered possession on his 22 and handed off two tackles to race away down the left touchline for his first score of the season. Hougaard’s conversion completed the scoring to give Tigers a 46-16 win and move them top of the Guinness Premiership table.