Leicester 35-29 Harlequins: Determined Tigers defy the Quins fightback

 

 

LEICESTER survived Quins' late charge to gain a valuable victory which lifts them into sixth place in the Premiership table.

Quins won the try count by five to four but will remember their trip to Mattioli Woods Welford Road for the way Leicester clinically picked them off in the first half.

Tigers scored all their tries before the interval to lead 29-12 and then just had enough strength to deny Quins at the end of a topquality match.

Unlike last week against Wasps, Marcus Smith, up against England's George Ford, could not work his magic and he will kick himself for missing three out of four conversions.

Instead of a fourth successive Premiership win, Quins had to be content with two bonus points to help their push for a playoff place.

For the watching England head coach Eddie Jones, two forceful firsthalf tries from prop Ellis Genge were a firm reminder of his pace and strength.

Genge, never out of the action, blotted his contribution when sin binned for an illegal clear out on Quins impressive flanker Jack Kenningham.

A remarkable first half saw Leicester build that lead despite having Genge and his front row colleague Dan Cole yellow-carded within three minutes of each other.

Overall, Leicester's resilience when down to 13 men was another crucial factor.

Leicester scored their fourth try just before halftime when Genge, back on after his spell in the cooler, bulldozed his way over for his second try.

Backed up by the forceful running of man-ofthe-match Nemani Nadolo, Leicester had struck early through centre Matt Scott who timed his run to perfection to take a well-timed Ford pass.

Genge followed up by scoring Leicester's second in the eighth before Quins stopped the one-way traffic by smartly setting up a try for wing Nathan Earle.

Quins paid the price for giving away a penalty which allowed Leicester to set up camp once more in the visiting 22 and Tom Youngs led the charge to score.

That score put Leicester 21-5 up, Ford having converted all three. Quins replied through their best period and gained a penalty try off a line-out move when Cole dropped the maul and was sin binned.

Genge soon joined Cole on the sidelines for his charge into a ruck that caught Kenningham. Despite being down to 13, Leicester did not concede a point and stretched their lead through a Ford penalty.

To finish a hectic half, Genge grabbed his second when he had returned alongside Cole.

The second half did not produce the same kind of fireworks until the final minutes. And the rain helped the Leicester desire to slow the game.

A second penalty from Ford stretched Tigers' lead to 32-17 but Quins were never down and out.

A try in the 53rd from wing Joe Marchant rewarded some excellent phase play and another try from Earle put Quins back into the contest at 32-24.

However, Quins were penalised from the re-start and Zak Henry, the replacement for Ford, added a penalty to put Leicester 35-24 up.

It was still not enough to quell Quins who maintained the fierce pace to work a fifth try, this time from the centre Luke Northmore.

Smith, who managed only one conversion, missed the kick and Leicester hung on thanks to the intervention of substitute wing Kini Murimurivalu who won a crucial turnover to finish the match.