SUPERB TUILAGI LEADS REVIVAL

MANU TUILAGI delivered his best performance since 2014 with two tries to help sink Gloucester. The England centre (below) played a part in two other scores as Leicester came from 27-13 down at Welford Road to win 35-30 and climb back into the top four. ‘We had 40 minutes to save our season,’ said Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill. ‘If we’d lost, we were done. I’m delighted we got out of a hole but some of the performance was not acceptable. If you play like that, you get what you deserve.’

FORGOTTEN England No 8 Thomas Waldrom is on course to become the first forward to top the try-scoring charts two years in a row. The No 8 scored a hat-trick in Exeter’s 50-12 win over Worcester to take his tally to 13. Former Sale winger Steve Hanley is the only other player to win the award two years in a row, in 2003 and 2004.

SARACENS and England lock Maro Itoje awaits the prognosis on a knee injury suffered during Friday’s 30-10 win over Bath. ‘It’s a small concern,’ said director of rugby Mark McCall. ‘He was over the ball and got cleared out.’ Bath full back Anthony Watson was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Alex Goode and faces an entrypoint ban of three weeks.