Russell pulls the strings in demolition of sorry Tigers
● Scotland fly-half sparkles for Racing 92
Scotland fly-half Finn Russell was at the heart of Racing 92’s impressive victory over Leicester, which all but ended the home side’s hopes of reaching the knockout phase of the Champions Cup.
In a classy display, Russell finished with a 14-point haul comprising four conversions and two penalties.
The Tigers were overwhelmed in a blistering first quarter from Racing with tries by Teddy Iribaren, Juann Imhoff and Virimi Vakatawa sweeping the Pool Four leaders out of reach.
Full-back George Worth crossed on the half-hour mark but it was a weak display from the Tigers, who barely fired a shot apart from the odd burst by Manu Tuilagi.
Interim Leicester coach Geordan Murphy admitted the side have sunk to their lowest point during his two decades at Welford Road, and said that their failure to handle Russell had contributed heavily to the result.
This, their eighth successive defeat, marks the club’s worst sequence of results since 1975 and Murphy, pictured, who joined Leicester as a player in 1997, said: “From my experience it is the lowest ebb in the time that I have been here.
“We’re on an horrific run, confidence is low and we are making silly errors in attack and defence. We gave Racing a foothold in our 22 in the first half and missed someone-on-onetackles.they score under the posts and then from the kick-off Finn Russell waltzes through untouched. We are aware of how elusive he is but they go the length of the field and score and it is 14-3.”
Two defensive errors by Leicester helped Racing into an early lead with Iribaren the first over, waves of strong carries ending when the scrumhalf touched down with an outstretched arm.
Next over the line wasimh off, who benefited from Adam Thompstone’s poor positioning that enabled Simon Zebo to sprint free from a line-out.
Tigers were carved open far too easily again in the 21st minute as Racing staged an attack from inside their own 22, the ball passing through several pairs of hands before Vakatawa crossed.
The one-way traffic was brought to a halt when Tuilagi ran an arching line and although Thompstone was halted by a high tackle, Worth was on hand to gather and touch down.
Leicester trailed 24-11 at half time but their opportunities to cut the deficit dwindled as they lost a second line-out from close range. Russell landed a penalty as Racing continued to dominate, a 58th-minute counter from inside their own half scattering the Tigers just as they were beginning to build some momentum.
Dan Cole was sent to the sin-bin for leading with an elbow when he carried into skipper Henry Chavancy to place further dent Leicester’s hopes.
In a dour second half Russell showed his electric pace to slice Leicester open and the bonus point was sealed when Imhoff plundered his second try with a minute left.
SCORERS
LEICESTER: Tries: Worth. Pens: G. Ford 2.
RACING 92: Tries: Iribaren, Imhoff 2, Vakatawa.
Cons: Russell 4. Pens: Russell 2.
LEICESTER: Worth, Thompstone, M. Tuilagi, Toomua, May, G. Ford, White, Genge, Polota-nau, Cole, Spencer, Kitchener, Fitzgerald, O’connor, Kalamafoni. Replacements: Cortes for Thompstone (64), Owen for M. Tuilagi (72), B. Youngs for White (53), Gigena for Genge (75), Kerr for Polota-nau (53), Wells for Kitchener (55), Thompson for O’connor (58), Williams for Kalamafoni (69).
RACING 92: Zebo, Dupichot, Vakatawa, Chavancy, Imhoff, Russell, Iribaren, Gogichashvili, Avei, Tameifuna, Ryan, Nakarawa, Chouzenoux, Le Roux, Claassen. Replacements: Volavola for Zebo (67), Klemenczak for Vakatawa (60), Machenaud for Iribaren (66), Kakovin for Gogichashvili (50), Szarzewski for Avei (69), Gomes Sa for Tameifuna (58), Sanconnie for Claassen (66). Not Used: Palu.