Irish took a first minute lead through Peter Hewat's drop-goal while Delon Armitage added two long range penalties.

But Tigers struck back through Crane's try and a conversion and penalty from scrum-half Julien Dupuy to become Guinness Premiership champions for a second time in three years.

Head coach Richard Cockerill made one change to the team that booked its place in the final with Julian White replacing Martin Castrogiovanni in the front row. Dan Cole was named among the replacements and there was a place on the bench for Louis Deacon on his return from injury.

Irish were forced into a late change to their side when lock Nick Kennedy failed a fitness test on the morning of the game. His place went to James Hudson and Gary Johnson was called onto the replacements bench.

The Exiles took a three-point lead with just 25 seconds on the clock when Peter Hewat collected Sam Vesty's clearance just inside the Tigers' half before striking a drop goal from 40m.

Tigers opened up the Irish defence on eight minutes when Sam Vesty and Scott Hamilton combined to free Geordan Murphy but the Tigers captain was pulled back for crossing in the build-up.

Irish were given the chance to double their lead in the 12th minute when Tigers were penalised for hands in the ruck, but Delon Armitage was wide to the right with his kick.

The Irish centre was then given a warning by referee Wayne Barnes for taking George Chuter out without the ball as Tigers built up some momentum in midfield. Dupuy punished the Irish centre by knocking over the penalty from 30m to draw Tigers level at 3-3 after 17 minutes.

A quick break by Dan Hipkiss, supported by Geordan and Johne Murphy, then took Tigers into the Irish 22 before Chris Hala'Ufia was whistled for going off his feet at the breakdown. However, Dupuy, in windy conditions, was wide with his kick from the right touchline.

A quickly taken penalty by Paul Hodgson then saw Irish threaten Tigers from deep. The scrum-half was supported by Seilala Mapasua and Hewat as Irish took play into the Tigers 22 before they were awarded a penalty for offside. However, Hewat hit the left-hand post with his penalty kick and the ball fell to Vesty who was able to clear.

Irish continued to press through Hudson, who forced his way through a gap in the left of the Tigers defence before being hauled down by Geordan Murphy 20m from the line.

The Exiles were then given another penalty attempt for Hamilton not releasing in the tackle, but Delon Armitage pulled it to the left from a central position 45m out.

Tigers then failed to deal with an up-and-under on their own 22 which allowed Mapasua to feed a grubber in behind them that Geordan Murphy miscued in his attempt to hack clear before dropping on the ball in his in-goal area.

Irish finished the half on the front foot, their captain opting Bob Casey opting for a series of five-metre scrums as Tigers were deemed offside in their determination to defend their line. The Tigers defence held firm with Woods and Vesty producing excellent tackles on Hala'Ufia and Mapasua when they looked set to cross.

However, Tigers went down to 14 men in the final minute of the half when Jordan Crane was given a yellow card for going in at the side but defended resolutely to reach half-time level at 3-3.

Delon Armitage found his range 10 minutes into the second half when he knocked over a 45m penalty for Tigers coming in at the side of a ruck to put Irish 6-3 ahead. It was the Exiles only score during Crane's period in the sin bin.

Tigers put together a flowing move on 55 minutes when Hamilton broke the Irish line on the right and offloaded to Hipkiss on an inside line. The Tigers centre was stopped 15m out by a combination of Casey and Hewat just as he looked certain to score.

Crane did cross the Irish line to put Tigers ahead for the first time on 61 minutes. Ayoola Erinle made the hard yards into the Irish 22 and had the advantage of a penalty for an Irish infringement at the breakdown. Tigers made it pay as the ball went through two more phases to lay the platform for Crane to pick up and go, the No8 stretched for the line to complete the try. Dupuy added a testing conversion from right of the posts to put Tigers 10-6 ahead.

Delon Armitage reduced Tigers' lead to one point with eight minutes left with a penalty from halfway as the Tigers scrum was penalised for wheeling.

But it proved the final score of the game as Tigers kept hold of the ball in Irish territory to seal victory and a record eighth league title.