Eurosport rugby expert Neil Back says Leicester's surprise progress to the Guinness Premiership final is proof of what can be achieved when a team plays for a full 80 minutes.

It's amazing to think that only a couple of weeks ago Leicester were in danger of finishing seventh in the Guinness Premiership.

On the final weekend of the regular season, we were trailing Harlequins going into injury time and, if things had stayed the same at Welford Road and elsewhere in the Premiership, we could have been out of the play-offs and out of Europe.

But Tom Varndell's injury-time touch-down turned everything around and all of a sudden we had finished fourth in the standings and a play-off place was ours!

A week later and we were again behind late in the game, this time to Gloucester in the semi-final at Kingsholm. Gloucester had done very well to re-take the lead with a drop goal four minutes from time, but we knew we still had a chance.

A couple of plays later we had worked our way into a good attacking position, Andy Goode dropped back into the pocket, nailed the winning goal and all of a sudden we were in the final.

It was an amazing finish and now we have a realistic chance of successfully defending our Premiership title.

What these two games have taught us is that one should never give up while there is still hope - a team should always play to the last minute. Without that we would not be where we are now.

Reaching the Premiership final is an awesome achievement for Leicester when you consider where people perceived us to be earlier in the season.

Consistency has been a problem for us this season, but we have been playing better recently and wins over Harlequins and Bath are proof of that.

Our composure under pressure in both games was very good and we showed great character. We must now maintain this momentum and make sure we go into the final with the same controlled physicality.

We've played Wasps three times already this season and won twice (though we lost at home to them in the league) but this means nothing going into a final.

I remember a few years back when we played them five times in a season and lost only once - the trouble was the loss came in a final!

Wasps are very successful in the way they prepare for a full season. They manage their players very well and keep them fresh for the end-of-season run-in.

They have suffered a few injuries recently - especially to poor Danny Cipriani - but they have a strong squad and will be confident other players can step up.

Leicester and Wasps know each other very well and that is why previous results are irrelevant going into the final.

At the end of the season, our destiny was not in our own hands and we had to rely on other teams doing us a favour. That is no longer the case and we have the character and talent within the squad to raise ourselves for one final effort.

I was delighted to see Danny Hipkiss get a late call up for the England tour of New Zealand, though it is never nice when it comes at the expense of another player, in this case Danny.

Leicester's inconsistency effected Danny's chances of breaking back into the England team and I have to say I was not greatly surprised when he was left out of the original squad.

But our improved performances in recent weeks have allowed Danny to show what he can do in a better light and he clearly has impressed Martin Johnson and the other selectors.

Jonno must have though he had enough cover at fly-half - Charlie Hodgson is now first choice, while Toby Flood and Olly Barkley can also play at 10 - and wanted more depth at centre.

Hopefully Danny's injury will be the last one England have to worry about as I think this squad has an excellent chance of pushing the All Blacks all the way.

Leicester will be using a game on Sunday against a Classic All Blacks side to prepare for the Premiership final. They have some quality players in their team and we are expecting a real test, which should stand us in good stead for the upcoming challenges.

The Premiership final represents the last game for a certain Lawrence Dallaglio. Lol is a good mate of mine but I hope we can spoil his final swansong, just as he and Wasps did for Jonno a couple of years ago.

Eurosport