A ten-point away defeat to Gloucester Rugby at Kingsholm meant Leicester Tigers finished runners-up in the 23/24 Premiership Rugby Cup.

It was a territorial battle between the sides during the opening period, predominantly through the boot, looking to force their opponents into an error in their own half and gain an early opportunity.

The home side dominated possession early on, with more than 80% of the ball after 15 minutes, but the Tigers were able to repel Gloucester's attack with a strong defensive display.

A penalty against Josh Bassett on the halfway line presented Gloucester with a chance to add the first points, after opting to take a shot for three from the tee, but the penalty-goal attempt fell inches short of the crossbar. 

Soon after, approaching the 20-minute mark, a Tom Whiteley break from the base of the ruck saw the scrum-half in space deep inside the Gloucester end, but he was brought down just metres from the line and the hosts were able to turn over the ball and deny the first try of the game.

The next opportunity for Leicester came as the Kingsholm clock ticked over into the 25th minute when Gloucester were penalised just inside their own side of the halfway line and Handré Pollard landed the long-range attempt to register the first points of the game and see Tigers into a three-point lead. 

Just five minutes later and Pollard extended it to a six-point lead with his second penalty goal of the night after the Leicester pack earned the opportunity with back-to-back dominant scrums forcing the officials into penalising Gloucester's set piece.

Approaching the break and repeated infringements from Tigers not only allowed Gloucester into the visitor's end but also forced Referee Jack Makepeace into going to his pocket, with Finn Theobold-Thomas the unlucky Leicester player to be shown a yellow card.

The home side, after a handful of unsuccessful attempts with ball in hand, opted to get themselves on the scoreboard with a penalty goal from near in front of the posts from George Barton to make it 3-6 at half-time. 

Not long after the sides returned to the field, the TMO was called upon by Makepeace to check for a potential Gloucester try - which was sent upstairs as No Try - and no conclusive evidence of a grounding meant the score was disallowed.

While the Tigers defensive effort to deny Gloucester had the visitors buoyed, it was quickly removed with Mike Brown shown a yellow for an infringement at the breakdown in the build up which took Leicester down to 13 men with Theobold-Thomas' still in the sin bin for a further three minutes.

The two-man advantage proved helpful to the home side at a scrum on the Tigers try-line and, against the feed, they won a penalty and took a quick tap from the infringement and scored their first try through Sebastien Atkinson.

Barton converted the score from in front of the posts to take his side to a 10-6 lead with just over thirty minutes remaining.

Two minutes later and Gloucester were in again, this time through Cam Jordan, after some expansive play from the home side saw them deep into the Leicester half and the lock, just two phases later, pushed his way over from close range.

Barton was again successful from the tee following the Jordan try to extend his side's lead to eleven points, 17-6, with 27 minutes left at Kingsholm.

A third, in as many minutes, looked likely from the re-start when Gloucester - with a three on one in attack - broke free but couldn't convert it into points after a successful scramble from Tigers defenders in retreat forced an error from the home side.

However, from the scrum following, again against the feed, Gloucester won a penalty and Barton landed the penalty goal attempt to extend their lead to 20-6 with 25 minutes remaining,

The next restart proved more positive for Leicester when Hanro Liebenberg won a penalty at the breakdown following Pollard's kick-off and the visitors kicked for the corner for a chance from close range. A second penalty came the way of Tigers from the set piece but the ensuing lineout couldn't be converted into points after losing possession in the first phase on Gloucester's line.

Discipline continued to plague Leicester who, with just twenty minutes remaining, trailed the penalty count 9-3 and in the 64th minute looked to have three more added to the deficit, only for a Barton penalty-goal attempt to go wide.

But, less than a minute later, a no-arms tackle from Liebenberg offered up another chance for the Gloucester fly-half and he took them with ease from in front of the posts to take his side's lead to 17 points, 23-6, in front of a vocal Kingsholm crowd. 

Barton missed another chance to extend his side's lead by three in the 70th minute which, despite a late try to Liebenberg, converted by Pollard, did not prove costly as Gloucester held on to record a 23-13 victory to win the 23/24 Premiership Rugby Cup Final.