Leicester take advantage after Hepetema is sent off for Irish
Leicester 33-32 London Irish
Leicester’s pack were superb here as they did enough to put away in-form London Irish in the second half, following Terrence Hepetema’s red card for a dangerous tackle.
Leicester tries in the second half from Ollie Chessum and Kini Murimurivalu meant the Tigers climb to eighth in the table, with Irish working hard late on with the result lost to secure two bonus points.
“The boys found a way through after a very difficult start,” said Leicester head coach Steve Borthwick. “London Irish played really well in that first 20 and put us under a lot of pressure. I’m pleased that the players were resilient and composed, after that start, to find a way to win the game.
“We’re a team that’s coming together. Tomas Lavanini getting injured, Ollie Chessum came on and did really well in that second half.”
London Irish did not need long to show their good form going ahead after just 37 seconds, with Hepetema’s fine offload freeing Paddy Jackson to score the opening try.
A high tackle from the Irish captain Matt Rogerson reduced the visitors to 14 men, and Zack Henry capitalised to get Tigers on the scoreboard to make it 3-7.
Jackson knocked over a penalty before the Exiles eventually cracked after sustained pressure, a sweet inside pass from Henry putting Kobus van Wyk over under the posts, with both teams adding further penalties to go into half-time tied at 13-13.
It was Leicester who had the better start to the second half, taking the lead for the first time through replacement Chessum.
Irish looked to have hit back through a try for Nick Phipps, only for Hepetema to be penalised for obstruction, and Leicester made them pay, winning a penalty from a scrum which Henry converted.
Leicester’s pack were dominant at this point but, to their credit, the Exiles kept coming, and Ollie Hassell-collins took Phipps’ pass to score to get within five points.
Hepetema’s red card for a high tackle on Van Wyk then put Leicester in the driving seat, Johnny Mcphillips adding three points to extend their lead to 26-18.
When Murimurivalu sliced through for Leicester’s third, running a sharp line off Jack van Poortvliet’s pass, the result was settled.
Irish battled on and secured their two bonus points through a penalty try and then a score off a maul by Matt Cornish in the 86th minute as Leicester picked up two late yellow cards.
London Irish director of rugby Declan Kidney said: “We know there are a lot of things we can do to improve and those are the bits you work on. At the end, those are the bits you can’t coach. You always hope you’ll find yourself in the dressing room with people like that. We probably weren’t as clinical in the first half as we could be.”