Ford shows his form as Tigers come good
LEICESTER supporters may wonder where this performance has been for most of the campaign.
Few teams have outplayed Sale at the AJ Bell Stadium this season but the Tigers produced an absolutely magnificent display to come away with a bonus-point victory.
It left them with a severe case of ‘what if’ however with head coach Matt O’Connor still seething about the defeat to Newcastle last weekend which ended their play-off hopes.
“I would be a lot happier if Barnesy (Wayne Barnes) reffed us every week,” Leicester’s boss said pointedly. “Write what you want, it’s about the fiasco that was Welford Road last Friday.
“This game was brilliant, the boys played really well. Defensively, we were brilliant. Sale came to play, they needed to score tries.”
Sale created opportunities before half-time but, when the visitors assumed command in the second period, Steve Diamond’s charges had little answer.
Faf de Klerk started brightly for the Sharks and the scrum-half ’s break signalled their intent but it was the away side who opened the scoring.
O’Connor’s men combined power and dexterity when Manu Tuilagi powered through the middle and off-loaded to Dan Cole. With the Sharks’ defensive line on the back foot, superb hands from George Ford, Telusa Veainu and Jonny May allowed Jonah Holmes to cross.
The Tigers were playing with confidence but also on the edge of the laws and referee Barnes punished a couple of needless indiscretions, which led to kickable opportunities for AJ MacGinty.
Sale’s stand-off was on target twice, reducing the deficit to one point at the interval, but Leicester soon increased that buffer after the break.
They challenged Sale’s fringe defence and Ben Youngs pounced when a hole appeared. The outstanding Ford was on his shoulder and the pivot touched down unopposed for a 14-6 advantage.
All the nuts and bolts had worked effectively for the visitors in the first half, with the scrum domination and the driving maul an impressive weapon, but they displayed all their attacking talents in the final 40 minutes.
Under pressure, the Sharks infringed twice and Ford slotted both to provide Tigers with a 13-point buffer. It should have yielded even more reward but the stand-off’s errant pass prevented Holmes from potentially grabbing a second and, when Veainu broke downfield later in the half, Sione Kalamafoni failed to collect the fullback’s attempted off-load.
That proved costly as Ben Curry picked up the loose ball, scampered clear and fed Marland Yarde, who finished well.
It could have changed the course of the game but Leicester remained in the ascendency and rubberstamped the win in the last 15 minutes.
Mike Williams went over first, benefiting from good work by May and Ford, before the fly-half kicked a drop-goal to take the game out of the hosts’ reach. The Tigers went in search of the bonus-point and it was sealed by Holmes.