Leicester stay top but fail to impress
LEICESTER scored seven tries but were still far from convincing in maintaining their hold at the top of the Premiership.
The enterprising Irish were unhinged by the 29thminute dismissal of centre Curtis Rona for a dangerous tackle on Jasper Wiese.
The Exiles still tried to play a full part and grabbed a try when down to 13 men following the sin binning of lock Adam Coleman.
However, despite that score just after half-time by full-back Henry Arundell which put Irish within five points, Leicester found sufficient gas in the later stages to score three tries by Tommy Reffell, Nemani Nadolo and substitute Chris Ashton.
Nadolo was the undoubted star man even though his afternoon ended in the final minutes in a yellow card for deliberately knocking on.
By then the Irish had seen enough of the giant Fijian who had scored Leicester’s first of four tries in the first half and was a constant menace throughout.
Irish had shown their attacking intent from the start when grabbing an early lead through a try by Benhard van Rensberg, following Arundell’s break, and Paddy Jackson converted.
That early try rocked Leicester into gear and it was Nadolo who led the first-half response. The Fijian burst through Irish’s shaky midfield cover for a try in the seventh minute which Freddie Burns, who kicked five conversions in all, improved.
Irish competed on equal terms in the opening quarter but Van Rensberg undid the good work when he had his pass intercepted by Matt Scott who clung on to the ball before racing clear.
That try put Leicester 12-7 up and a Jackson penalty for Irish should have been followed by a try outwide only for Arundell to fire out an uncatchable pass to Ollie HassellCollins.
Matters got worse in the 30th minute for Irish when Rona was given his marching orders for his badly judged high check on Wiese. He was backing up Albert Tuisue in a twoman hit but his shoulder clearly came into contact with the No.8’s neck.
Leicester needed no second invitation to take advantage and it was that man Nadolo who made the space for Harry Potter to score in the left corner.
Burns converted for a 19-10 lead which was quickly cut by Jackson’s second penalty.
Jackson added a third just before half-time but by then Leicester had worked a fourth try following more good work by Nadolo, the wing chasing down Burns’ chip to force a five-metre scrum.
That scrum produced an intense period of pressure which finished in referee Karl Dickson awarding a penalty try following a yellow card for substitute second row Coleman.
Irish’s best moment, despite being down to 13 men, came quickly after the break when Arundell finished off a counterattack to cut Tigers’ lead to 26-21.
However, the further the second-half went Leicester’s one-man advantage always gave them an edge.
Two tries in four minutes broke Irish’s resolve at last.
Full marks went to flanker Reffell for his determination in touching down Burns’ neat chip while Nadolo barged his way over.
The seventh try was claimed by substitute Chris Ashton and Irish, chasing a bonus point until the end, grabbed a third from Matt Cornish but ran out of time in pursuit of a fourth.