Leicester Tigers end losing streak despite team hit by sickness
England star Manu Tuilagi came off his sick bed to help Leicester end a run of eight successive defeats in all competitions as they beat Harlequins 35-24 in the Gallagher Premiership.
Leicester’s victory saw Welsh international Jonah Holmes cross twice in the first half with Tuilagi and fellow England international Jonny May getting secondhalf tries.
The win, which saw fly-half George Ford kick 15 points with three penalties and three conversions, took Leicester into sixth place in the league table.
Harlequins, a point and a place ahead of the Tigers, scored tries through Cadan Murley and Alex Dombrandt while flyhalf James Lang kicked four penalties and a conversion.
Newly-appointed Leicester head coach Geordan Murphy said he called off training at the back end of last week due to various illnesses which hit his players and coaching staff – including Tuilagi.
“We knew we had to push our engines out today and it was going to be a good physical game.
“I thought some of those guys did brilliantly. Everyone showed up and
everyone wanted to play.”
Harlequins head of rugby Paul Gustard was pretty blunt about his side’s display, calling it “our worst performance by a long way”.
He said: “It was old school Leicester today, lying on the wrong side, slowing the ball down. We wanted to play a high-tempo game but they slowed it down at line-outs, slowed it down at restarts and never allowed us into the game.
“At half-time, we were still confident, but we didn’t get it going in the second half. We were definitely the secondbest team.
“This was a team that we played against today which could not win a game and we can’t score away from home.”