Hamilton puts the Blues to bed as Tigers hold on
HOLDERS Leicester needed some stern secondhalf defence and a final try from Scotland’s Luke Hamilton to see off resilient Cardiff Blues.
Tigers’ second win in 2018 brought a welcome boost and keeps the shaky giants (two wins in ten games overall) in contention to win Pool 4 after Newcastle lost at Bath.
Now the Tigers must win at Wasps next Sunday and the likelihood is that they could field a stronger team as the focus shifts towards Premiership action a week later at Gloucester.
Among the possibilities is Manu Tuilagi at centre if he has recovered from a tweaked calf which ruled him out of the defeat by Racing Paris last week.
Leicester needed Tuilagi’s strength to help pierce a stubborn Blues defence especially in a first half when they dominated.
Tries by flanker Will Evans, who came off at half-time due to a cheekbone injury, and substitute back Jordan Olowofela rewarded Leicester’s possession.
With Joe Ford converting both tries and adding a penalty, Leicester led 17-0 at half-time.
However, a young Blues team, fielding seven newcomers, rallied in the second half to put Leicester under pressure via tries from Jack Roberts, back at his old club, and scrum-half Lewis Jones.
Leicester then needed a forward rush, off a lineout, to score the final try from Hamilton, the backrow forward, who will be reporting to Scotland’s training camp this week.
Ford added a third conversion to put them 24-12 up before some good late defence kept the Blues at bay. Geordan Murphy, Leicester’s match-day coach, said: “Our defence was good. I thought on the whole it was an OK performance.”
Murphy described captain Sammy Harrison as a “Trojan” for the way he kept his team together in a week when he had a birth in the family.
Richard Hodges, the Blues’ match-day coach, said: “We were starring down the barrel at 17-0 but I’m immensely proud of the way a young team stuck at it.”
Hodges reported that lock Ben Murphy sustained an arm injury in the first half while Roberts limped off near the end due to a knee problem.
Substitute Ben Jones sustained an ankle knock when heavily tackled by Fred Tuilagi, Manu’s nephew.
Man-of-the-match award went to the try-scoring sub Olowofela for his persistent running and good tackling.