Last-gasp drama as battling Tigers snatch victory to remain unbeaten
SUBSTITUTE PORTER THE HERO AS WINNING TRY MAKES IT A PERFECT 10 OUT OF 10 FOR LEICESTER
LEADERS Leicester Tigers made it 10 wins out of 10 in the Gallagher Premiership after a thrilling last-gasp 28-26 win at Bristol Bears on a chilly Boxing Day afternoon.
It looked as though Tigers were destined to lose their first game of the season, with less than 30 seconds on the clock and Bristol leading 26-23.
But Tigers earned themselves one last opportunity after a Tommy Reffell turnover.
Eventually, after 14 phases of play, Nic Dolly put Guy Porter into the corner to cross for a memorable victory.
Bristol, who hadn’t played in three weeks due to recent Covid cancellations, were always going to put up a strong test against the unbeaten Tigers.
Last season’s semi-finalists were sitting in 12th before the fixture but were able to call on the starting services of recent Fijian gold medal winner Semi Radradra for the first time this season.
Tigers took the lead after 15 minutes from the boot of George Ford, but after Fitz Harding’s try on 25 minutes, the Leicester side never got back into the lead until the 84th minute.
Tigers’ first-half try came from Nemani Nadolo and Julian Montoya and then Porter crossed in the second half as Tigers fought back to win, with George Ford adding three penalties and two conversions.
Tigers, who had not won at Bristol since 2016, enjoyed a solid start to the game, gaining the edge in the scrum with Ellis Genge getting the rub over his soon-to-be team-mate Kyle Sinckler.
Genge’s second penalty over his England compatriot resulted in Leicester’s first points from Ford in the 15th minute.
The game then burst into life with a brilliant try from Bristol’s number eight Fitz Harding, after England international Harry Randall was quickest to a rare loose pass from Ford.
The scrum-half ran deep into the Tigers’ half before passing it wide to Ioan Lloyd. He was tackled short, but from the next phase, Harding crashed through Nadolo to score.
A late change to the starting line-up saw Eli Snyman drop out due to illness with Calum Green stepping in.
The academy graduate struggled to get on the right side of the referee, conceding two penalties at the lineout that Calum Sheedy slotted over to make the score 13-3 in the last few minutes of the first half. Leicester then came to life with their own brilliant try.
Dan Cole and Dan Kelly helped to win the ball back just outside the Bristol’s 22, with Harry Potter and Montoya delivering the ball to Ford.
The fly-half then drew the defence before passing to Matias Moroni, who put in a delightful grubber through which Nemani Nadolo kicked and then gathered and crossed over the try line. Ford converted to make it 13-10 to Bristol at the break.
Green conceded another penalty straight after half-time, which Sheedy slotted over.
But Tigers came back with three points of their own after Harry Thacker was penalised at the breakdown.
The set-piece was again a focal point in the second half, with
Genge and Sinckler continuing to have an exciting battle.
But it was the Bristol prop who enjoyed the next score in bizarre circumstances.
Leicester were beginning to dominate the scrum and it showed when they pushed the Bristol pack backwards on Tigers’ own 22 line.
But referee Tom Foley gave the free-kick to Bristol and Randall passed to Radradra, who made metres before putting Lloyd into the corner.
But the Premiership leaders hit back soon after with another driving maul try, this time Montoya being the beneficiary, his third of the season.
Ford slotted the conversion to make the scores 23-20 with twenty
minutes left to play. The Leicester pack won another scrum penalty and Ford levelled the scores on 63 minutes.
The game then began to get a little cagey with neither side wanting to make the next mistake.
However, the mistake did come and it was Tigers that were pinged at the breakdown straight in front of their own posts.
Sheedy somehow missed the kick but was given another shot straight afterwards when Jasper Wiese was penalised and yellow-carded for a late charge down.
The Welshman made no mistake from his second chance, making it 26-23 with seven minutes remaining.
That’s how the game looked set to finish with Bristol looking to see out the last few minutes. But with 30 seconds left on the clock, Reffell won a penalty turnover, Ford kicked to touch but Charles Piutua managed to keep the ball in but knocked on in the process.
From the resulting scrum, Leicester had 14 phases of play with Ford sending the Bristol defence from left to right until Porter was eventually put into space on the right-hand corner and crossed for an incredible victory.
Delighted Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick said: “The spirit of the players, the fight was outstanding – we made errors in the game, we weren’t perfect.
“But one thing that is unquestionable is the fight.
“They keep finding a way to overcome it, that’s a credit to them and the leadership and the character they have.
“It didn’t matter what situation they found themselves in that game they worked through it.
“There are things we’ll do a lot better.
“I’ll think about how I can coach certain areas better.
“But the way they thought their way through the game was outstanding, great credit to them.
“Really pleased for the players, delighted for them, delighted for the supporters.
“They’ve been going through a tough time these last few years.
“Leicester, in particular, has been hit pretty hard.
“I think the supporters have a lot of pride in this team.”