The theme tune from “The Great Escape” rang around Welford Road at the end of this last-gasp thriller, which was about right given the way Leicester stole a Guinness Premiership semi-final away to Gloucester on Sunday from Harlequins in the last knockings of a five tries to four spectacular. Two minutes into injury time it looked as if the old order was shot to pieces with Leicester, for so long the power in the land, on the brink of failing to qualify for the Heineken Cup for the first time and also the playoffs.

It was then, with the Tigers trailing 28-24, that Tom Varndell, the quickest man in English rugby, came to their rescue. In the last 10 minutes of normal time, Leicester had hurled the kitchen sink at a spirited Harlequins side and come up empty-handed - and empty-booted given that Andy Goode had a goal-kicking nightmare, missing three kicks in front of the posts - but had been unable to make the breakthrough until Varndell got the ball on the left wing, 40 metres out.

As Mike Brown closed on him, Varndell chip kicked low inside the full-back and used his blistering pace to outstrip the Quins cover, gather the bounce, and score with Goode’s conversion giving the Tigers their winning margin. When the final whistle went, the sigh of relief from Leicester fans could have inflated a Zeppelin. Harlequins’ hopes of playing in the Heineken Cup next season now rest on Bath beating Worcester in the European Challenge Cup final.

It was a desperately close run thing for Leicester, who trailed 21-12 at the interval and clawed their way back when Goode put Johne Murphy over in the corner early in the second half to trim the deficit to 21-17. However, they were soon scrambling for a foothold again when a Chris Malone cross-kick put Tom Williams over for his second try with 18 minutes left, Malone’s conversion giving Quins a 28-17 lead. The Leicester scrum steadied the ship, executing a perfect wheel at a scrum five for Jordan Crane to pick up and smash over, Goode converting to set up the last-ditch drama.

Harlequins, for whom Danny Care was outstanding at scrum-half, threw down the gauntlet by scoring the opening try with two minutes played. Care and Nick Easter made the initial dents and Malone grubbered through for Brown to touch down, Malone converting for 7-0. Leicester’s confidence should have been exposed again when, with five minutes played Will Skinner, after a tremendous 60m run, was denied on the line by Harry Ellis’s despairing dive.

Buoyed by that escape, Leicester stormed back. Ellis wrong-footed the Harlequins defence when he switched the ball to the blind side, giving Ben Herring the chance to beat Chris Brooker on the outside. With 16 minutes on the clock, they struck again when Geordan Murphy conjured enough space to fire a beautifully-judged pass to Varndell, allowing the speedster to beat Brown comfortably on the outside. Goode’s conversion gave Leicester a 12-7 lead.

However, midway through the half Harlequins scored a try that would have had Martin Johnson spitting tacks. They tested Leicester’s strength in the middle of the ruck and found a soft underbelly, with Tosh Masson and Easter getting over the gain-line before Skinner was released to run in from 35 metres. Malone kicked the conversion for Harlequins to regain the lead at 14-12.

Leicester, however, came rumbling back and seemed to have the lighter Harlequins pack in a chokehold when they forced a scrum turnover and then opted for five five-metre scrummages in succession. Harlequins scrapped for all they were worth and held on.

Leicester also butchered a try-scoring opportunity after a searing line break by Aaron Mauger when Geordan Murphy threw Varndell a bullet-like pass where a lob would have sufficed. Harlequins made them pay when they made light of Chris Robshaw’s yellow card to score a opportunist try by Tom Williams, who, seeing the ball appear at the side of a ruck, burst through with Malone again converting for their impressive half-time lead. But it was not enough to put them out of the reach of the lethal Varndell.

Star man: Tom Varndell (Leicester)

Leicester: G Murphy; T Varndell, D Hipkiss, A Mauger, J Murphy (A Erinle 71min); A Goode, H Ellis; B Stankovich (M Ayerza 56min), M Davies (G Chuter 65min), J White, M Wentzel (R Blaze 70min), B Kay, M Corry (capt), J Crane, B Herring (T Croft 56min)
Harlequins:M Brown; T Williams, D Strettle, T Masson, S Keogh (D Barry 61min); C Malone, D Care; C Jones, C Brooker, M Ross (J Brooks 70min), J Percival (J Evans 45min), G Robson, C Robshaw (T Guest 59min), N Easter, W Skinner (capt)

Scorers:
Leicester: Tries: Varndell (2), Herring, J Murphy, Crane; Conversions: Goode (3)
Harlequins: Tries: Williams (2), Brown, Skinner; Conversions: Malone (4)
Referee: W Barnes (RFU)
Attendance: 17,498