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Pollard stars as Tigers secure play-off spot

MATCH REPORT: Springbok Handre Pollard was in fine form as he steers the Leicester Tigers to a 48-27 win over Bath.

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Matt Gallagher crossed the whitewash to give Bath the lead inside 11 minutes.

However but scores from Harry Potter, Handré Pollard, Hanro Liebenberg and Julián Montoya gave Tigers a 31-13 lead at the break.

Josh McNally closed the gap after half-time, but Montoya scored his second to give the hosts some breathing room.

Bath started the second half well and McNally went over following a close-range line-out, but any celebrations were short-lived as England flank Sam Underhill was helped off with a neck injury before fellow back-rower Alfie Barbeary, on as a replacement, also departed with what looked like a hamstring problem.

Another Pollard penalty extended the lead as Bath failed to convert a number of good periods of possession.

The visitors were made to pay with 16 minutes left as Mike Brown rolled back the years with a superb break from halfway that saw him tackled five metres from the Bath line, but Tigers recycled the ball well and Montoya battered his way over in the left corner.

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Potter had a second try disallowed shortly after following a push by Brown on Niall Annett as he chased down Matt Scott’s kick.

But Wells did swiftly add a sixth for Tigers when Scott caught a Charlie Atkinson kick and a couple of passes later Wells was in.

And Harry Wells wrapped up the win before Fergus Lee-Warner scored a late consolation for Bath.

The scorers:

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For Bath:
Tries: Gallagher, Spencer, McNally, Lee-Warner
Cons: Spencer 2
Pens: Spencer

For Leicester:
Tries: Potter, Pollard, Montoya 2, Liebenberg, Wells
Cons: Pollard 5, Atkinson
Pens: Pollard 2

Teams:

Bath Rugby: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Ruaridh McConnochie, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer (captain); 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Josh McNally, 5 GJ van Velze, 6 Fergus Lee-Warner, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Jaco Coetzee
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Miles Reid, 20 Alfie Barbeary, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Max Ojomoh, 23 Chris Cloete

Leicester Tigers: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Harry Potter, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Harry Simmons, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Tom West, 2 Julián Montoya (captain), 3 Joe Heyes, 4 George Martin, 5 Cameron Henderson, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Jasper Wiese
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Guy Porter

Source: @Premiership

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