Tigers keep a grip as their power pays off
LEADERS Leicester bulldozed their way back to victory to make up for that timid collapse at Sale last Sunday.
This time the Tigers maintained a firm grip virtually throughout to gain a bonus point win by five tries to one at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
It was an afternoon of no frills rugby in which Leicester needed their forward strength to engineer three tries, including a first-half penalty try.
That proved to be the crunch period in which they scored two tries and Worcester had two players sin binned, trying to stem the tide, to finish the first half two men down.
Leicester, bizarrely for a winning team, matched that feat at the end of the second half when substitute Ollie Robinson, who had been on for less than a minute, and wing Hosea Saumaki were also yellowcarded by referee Luke Pearce.
Struggling Worcester battled throughout and a 59th-minute try by wing Alex Hearle briefly raised hopes of following Sale’s comeback example.
Leicester needed a try late on from Tommy Reffell, off Guy Porter’s break, to calm any nerves, Freddie Burns converting for a match haul of 14 points.
Burns’ all-round efforts, including a first-half try, earned him the man-of-thematch award even though he was also responsible for a badly mis-judged long pass which allowed Hearle to scamper clear from his own 22.
It was an uplifting moment for Worcester who had trooped off at half-time 22-6 down. They deserved to be closer but had lost out in the final eight minutes, losing those two players to the sin bin and conceding two tries.
Prop Christian Judge and hooker Niall Annett received the cards in close succession for offences at mauls as Leicester drove off line-outs. Burns had taken advantage of the chaos to score near the posts while referee Pearce two minutes later awarded a penalty try as Worcester folded again.
Up until the collapse, Worcester had cut open the home defence only for scrum-half Gareth Simpson and Hearle to be stopped short.
However, Worcester’s defence also looked creaky which was demonstrated when Saumaki shook off three defenders to score Leicester’s first try in the ninth minute. Burns converted and added a penalty in the 23rd minute before the Leicester pack took charge.
Worcester relied on two penalty goals from Billy Searle and a third, straight after the interval, raised hopes again until the Leicester pack took charge once more.
And it was another move off a line-out drive which ended in Hanro Liebenberg diving over for his team’s fourth try which Burns improved for a 29-9 margin.
Worcester’s best moment came in the 63rd when Hearle escaped off Burns’ pass and Searle converted. But Leicester did not let this match slip like they had done at Sale.
They made sure of a 12th win through the eager Reffell, a half-time substitute for No.8 Jasper Wiese who had needed treatment for a neck injury.
To finish a match of too many penalties and stoppages Leicester finished with 13 men when Robinson was carded for being off side followed by Saumaki going off after a deliberate knock on.