Loffreda confronts his fate as Newcastle break Leicester’s grip on the title

A frenzied finish in the Tyneside drizzle left the anguished Tigers hanging on to their crown — and their Argentinian head coach to his job — by the proverbial thread.

The team's final dethronement as champions of England is surely no more than a formality given that not even a thumping maximum points home win over Harlequins on Saturday will be enough to guarantee them a place in the play-offs.

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Newcastle's heroic resistance in lifting the depression cast by the transfers of Mathew Tait and Toby Flood for £220,000 has left the biggest club in the country in such a predicament that they have to rely on one of the teams above them losing.

Leicester can only make the top four now provided Sale shock themselves by failing to gain a solitary point from their final match, at home to London Irish or, more improbably, that Wasps lose on Tyneside in midweek and again at relegated Leeds on Saturday.

Realistically, finishing fifth and dredging a place in the European Cup out of the mud of a sinking season is the best they can hope for.

Loffreda had effectively been given two matches to save his job and convince the Tiger hierarchy that he deserves longer than six months in which to get to grips with the culture shock of the most ferocious club tournament in the world.

The man who hardly put a foot wrong in guiding the Pumas to third place at the World Cup barely six months ago arrived at Kingston Park in desperate need of a blazing away win as belated evidence that he has nursed the Tigers back to health.

By the end, his need was even more desperate after watching his team struggle through the first half to find the level of passion which the occasion demanded.

The performance will have heightened the urgency with which Leicester are understood to be pursuing Dick Muir, an occasional Springbok centre who runs the Durban-based Sharks, and increased the likelihood of Loffreda being shunted 'upstairs' into a director of rugby role.

"I have been involved in rugby for many years, since I was 10 years old", said Loffreda. "I know that Leicester have to be winning trophies.

"We have one more game and all the staff will be working very hard to ensure we play our best game against Harlequins. We are not going to surrender. We know we have to get five points and we are going to fight very hard to get them. Our aim now is to qualify for the Heineken Cup."

On an afternoon when Newcastle's discomfort over the imminent departures of Tait and Flood was there to be exploited, Leicester took all of 40 seconds to give them a helping hand.

They messed up the kick-off and allowed Newcastle to go through five phases efficiently enough for an obliging Tiger to transgress at the second.

Jonny Wilkinson, once again postponing his shoulder operation in the Falcons' cause, helped himself to the gift of a 15-yard penalty.

Leicester had still to rouse themselves when a juggling John Rudd broke through Geordan Murphy's tackle to cause enough damage for hooker Andy Long to plunge over.

Jordan Crane's swift reply promoted a furious reaction and a try in first-half injury time for Phil Dowson, the skipper dummying Andy Goode and blasting through the gap to finish with a one-handed touchdown.

Wilkinson's break then engineered a thrilling try for Tom May which sent the home crowd wild before Tom Varndell came off his blindside wing to close the gap to three points and launch a desperate final assault.

Newcastle, aided and abetted by a largely predictable Leicester back division, defended as though their lives depended on it.

To their credit, Leicester spurned a simple equalising penalty to go for broke and, ultimately, substitute hooker Rob Vickers denied them, burrowing beneath Richard Blaze to stop the Tigers lock.