Jonah strikes twice as Tigers give Murphy a winning start
GEORDAN Murphy revealed how his ailing Tigers rose from their sickbeds to bring a disastrous losing streak to a happy end and improve the Welford Road Christmas spirit.
The head coach was delighted to celebrate a winning start to his new permanent position in the Leicester hot-seat thanks to a bonus-point win over Quins.
No doubt the Irishman sunk a glass or two of the black stuff having opened both eyes for once to look at the Premiership table to see Tigers in a lofty sixth spot.
Wing Jonah Holmes grabbed two of the four tries which helped halt an eight-game losing run which was their worst for 43 years.
And Murphy, who was given the job full-time despite Tigers European hopes being dashed by Racing last weekend, admitted it was a courageous effort from a group of players who had been laid low by bugs for most of the week.
He said: “Everyone put their bodies on the line. Over half the squad, plus coaching and medical staff were hit by different bugs. We had to shut up shop because of the illness on Wednesday and just did a few line-outs yesterday. That was pretty much for the week. There was tonsillitis, colds, flu, it was horrific!
“We only had one who missed the game but Manu Tuilagi was in bed all day yesterday and many others were struggling to make the game. Ben Youngs, Matt Toomua were also down. We didn’t want them training in case they infected others.
“So the guys were brilliant especially in such a physical game. They all showed up and wanted to play. It was pleasing to get the win; we looked really sharp but also made some silly mistakes. So still a lot to work on.”
Tigers swept into a 23-9 half-time lead thanks to an early Ford penalty and Holmes bursting through a gap for the first of his brace.
Ford and James Lang exchanged penalty blows before prop Tatafu PolotaNau snaffled a bouncing Quins restart to charge towards the line and feed the supporting Holmes to cross untouched.
Quins relied on Lang’s boot to keep them almost in touch for the first half but Ford was also nailing his shots and the visitors were losing the forward battle as well as leaking in defence.
A Lang penalty shortly into the second half drew Quins level and had the locals a little concerned, but their worries were short-lived as Tuilagi popped up in the right corner to finish a flowing move.
Quins refused to lie down and Mike Brown’s deft back-of-the-hand pass to Cadan Murley put the wing over for his side’s first try. However, their defence was stretched again when the ball found Jonny May on the left wing, and the England man cantered over untouched for the bonus try.
Flanker Alex Dombrandt bull-dozed over for a late Quins consolation try but the game was beyond saving. Tigers can head to Bath next Sunday in happier mood and able to enjoy their Christmas turkey this week.