Leicester edge Bristol to go top
MAYCH REPORT: Leicester moved to the top of the English Prem table with a hard-fought 22-16 victory away to Bristol on Friday.
The Tigers triumphed at Ashton Gate after scoring 10 points while Bristol had two players in the sin-bin.
Leicester’s tries came from Freddie Steward, Adam Radwin, Ollie Hassell-Collins and Jamie Blamire, with Billy Searle adding one conversion.
Wales flier Louis Rees-Zammit scored Bristol’s lone try, with James Williams adding three penalties and a conversion to secure a losing bonus point.
“Good, gritty win against a good team in a difficult place to come,” Leicester coach Geoff Parling told the BBC. “Really proud of what we’ve done – we’ve had three games in 12 days again.”
Bristol counterpart Pat Lam was left regretting yellow cards for two high tackles in three minutes, with Matias Moroni and Tom Jordan sent to the bin.
“We did some great stuff on defence, turned ball over, put the ball up, but the line-out we lost all momentum – our game really thrives on building pressure on the other team and getting scoreboard pressure and we certainly had opportunities,” Lam said.
“We end up losing the game by six points, two tries were conceded with 13 men, that made it difficult.”
Gloucester can regain top spot when they face Northampton on Saturday.
The scorers:
For Bristol:
Try: Rees-Zammit
Con: Williams
Pens: Williams 3
For Leicester:
Tries: Steward, Radwan, Hassell-Collins, Blamire
Con: Searle
Teams:
Bristol Bears: 15 Tom Jordan, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Luka Ivanishvili, 7 Fitz Harding (captain), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Joe Batley, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 3 George Kloska, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Tomas Gwilliam, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Joe Owen, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Jack Bates, 23 Ben Grondona.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Solomone Kata, 12 Orlando Bailey, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Tom Whiteley, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Finn Carnduff, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Ollie Chessum (captain), 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Archie van der Flier.
Replacements: 16 Samiuela Moli, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Joaquin Moro, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Will Wand, 23 Gabriel Hamer-Webb.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson and Jonathan Cook
TMO: Stuart Terheege
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