Cometh the hour, cometh the title for the fourth time in a row. The moment it became clear this was to be Leicester's day with an unprecedented three games to spare came neither with the news that Northampton had an unbridgeable lead against second-placed Gloucester, nor with Freddie Tuilagi's 69th-minute try to put the home team two scores ahead here.
It came instead 10 minutes previously in a scene reminiscent of England's mass high-class substitution against Italy six days before, when the internationals entered the fray en masse: Graham Rowntree, Dorian West and Austin Healey joining Neil Back, a replacement seven minutes earlier.
And so along came the win which pushed their unbeaten record here to a remarkable half-century, most appropriately given the importance of this rugby fortress to the Tigers' run of titles.
Though it was their fourth, their captain Martin Johnson was anything but blasé about Leicester's latest triumph. "It's the bread and butter, your daily existence. It's great to be top of the pile and winning with the guys you spend 40 weeks a year or more with is fantastic. We knew it was always ours to lose from the end of December. We never took anything for granted but we knew that, if we played anything like as well as we could, we would take some beating."
Until the substitutions Leicester had looked rather ordinary, given the margin they have enjoyed for so long at the top of the table; and, at 15-12 ahead, they were within reach of a Newcastle side who had been the last team to win here in league rugby, almost 4 years ago.
They had been their usual selves up front and in the set-piece and had slowed down Newcastle's ball adeptly, as ever on the margins of legality, but there were too many dropped passes, too many inane or inaccurate kicks and too little spark for a team which had a European semi-final to worry about in two weeks.
With the internationals on the field, the Tigers were just sharp enough to make the difference, stringing together their best passage of continuity to stretch the Falcons left and right before Tuilagi burst over. That did, however, raise the question of what the scoreline could have been if every Leicester pass had gone to hand.
Leicester's director of rugby Dean Richards accepted that the poor quality of their game meant that the sense of occasion was muted.
"We're delighted but the boys are disappointed with the way they played today. It's always fragmented during the Six Nations, with guys going away and coming back, so we're thankful that there are two weeks until the semi-final."
What kept Leicester together until the cavalry arrived was Tim Stimpson's kicking and the spirit which means they tend to win marginal matches. It is this, says the full-back, which has earned them a record unequalled in rugby's professional era.
"It's a question of having a very committed, down-to-earth group of players, who happen to be very good and who are all determined each year to be better than they were the year before.
"We're very hard on ourselves," he continued. "If we mess things up, miss tackles or miss kicks, we know about it all week, not necessarily because we're told about it but because we all have high personal standards."
It is this spirit which prompted the back-row Lewis Moody, who was doubtful about his future here earlier in the season, to say after the game that he would like to spend the rest of his career in the east midlands.
Next up is the bid to repeat last year's treble of Premiership, European Cup and Zurich Championship. Johnson feels it is within reach.
"We can do it because in any individual game we can win; but we know we've got to play better.
"We haven't been on top form for four or five weeks, since we beat Saracens [on February 9], and they weren't at their best that day. We've got to play better, not worry about winning things."
And that explains why they are where they are. There could be no better summary of the philosophy which has made the Premiership plate part of the furniture here.
Leicester: Stimpson; Booth, Lloyd, Kafer (Gelderbloom, 52), Tuilagi; Goode (Healey, 59), Ellis (Hamilton, 57); Freshwater (Rowntreee, 59), Cockerill (West, 59), Garforth, Johnson (capt), Short (Kay, 70), Corry, Moody (Back, 52), Balding.
Scorers: Try: Tuilagi. Pens: Stimpson 5.
Newcastle: Botham; Stephenson, Noon, May, Maclure (Tuigamala, 60); Wilkinson (capt), Charlton (Armstrong, 75); Ward, Brotherstone, Hurter (Devonshire, 75), Vyvyan, Grimes, Taione, Arnold (Peel, 70), Dunbar (Lam, 65).
Scorer: Pens: Wilkinson 4.
Sin-bin: Arnold, 40.
Referee: R Maybank (RFU).
Att: 16,250.
The 10-year road to domination
2002 Champions
2001 Champions
2000 Champions
1999 Champions
1998 4th - Champions: Newcastle
1997 3rd - Champions: Wasps
1996 2nd - Champions: Bath
1995 Champions
1994 2nd - Champions: Bath
1993 3rd - Champions: Bath
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