Michael Cheika finds himself on the verge of an historic turnaround for the Leicester Tigers after they booked their place in next week's English Premiership final with a hard-fought 21-16 win at home to Sale on Saturday.
The Tigers saw off several threats in the Sale outfit - including veteran England playmaker George Ford; with two tries by wing Adam Radwan helped them edge past Sale to spark joyful scenes come the final whistle at Welford Road in what was the last Leicester home game for retiring stalwarts Ben Youngs and Dan Cole.
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The Tigers will face old foes Bath at the headquarters of English rugby on June 14, and Cheika has reaffirmed only victory in would do for his side after they booked their place in the Twickenham showpiece.
Bath is the only side the Tigers haven't beaten this year, and Cheika gave an honest assessment in post-match about the forthcoming challenge.
"They gave us a bit of a tonking when we were down there a few weeks ago," said Cheika.
"Bath is the only team we haven’t beaten yet this year, so we’ve got to find a way to master that opponent. To win the comp you’ve got to beat all the teams, right?"
For veteran Australian coach Cheika, who has overseen a revival in fallen English giants Leicester's fortunes since signing a one-year deal before the start of the season, there is still much to do ahead of what will be his last game in charge of the Tigers.
"This is not an achievement for me –- winning it (the Premiership) is the achievement," said Cheika.
The 58-year-old, who steered his native Australia to the 2015 Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham only for the Wallabies to go down 34-17 to New Zealand, knows all to well when it is like to fall at the final hurdle.
"I don't want to be a sad sack, but I can't leave any room for complacency around how well we’ve done to make it (to the final)," Cheika admitted candidly.
"I've been doing this for too long. You get to a World Cup final, you think about how good that is and then when you lose, it's the worst feeling you'll ever have.
“I want to make sure that I leave no room in my own personal performance to allow anything to derail our preparation."
Radwan's two tries were the standout moments from Saturday's semi-final, the 27-year-old England wing evading several Sale defenders for his first score before he crossed Sale's line again after athletically catching an overhit chip from Springbok star Handre Pollard.
"Adam grew about a foot, I reckon. A foot and a half!" Cheika admitted humorously.
"He's not the tallest of fellas, Adam, but he got there.
"You've got to be brave to go and do that stuff and if you don't try it, you never know if it'll happen or not. I'm not going to rap him (Radwan) up too much, but it was a good try.
"Pollard had the courage to make the kick and then Adam had the courage to do that extra little bit to go and get it."
In the other result of the weekend, Bath came from behind to defeat the Bristol Bears 34-20 at home, coming back from a one try deficit at halftime to win.
