Leicester exact revenge on Johann van Graan's Bath
SATURDAY WRAP: Leicester got a measure of revenge for their defeat to Bath in last season’s English Prem final on Saturday as Noah Caluori scored five tires in Saracens’ 65-14 thrashing of Sale.
Billy Searle’s penalty secured a dramatic 22-20 victory for Leicester with the final kick of the game and inflicted a first defeat of the season on the defending champions.
Bath scored 17 of their 20 points inside the first 25 minutes as Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath all scored tries.
But Finn Russell crucially missed two of the three conversions.
Scores from Oliver Cracknell and Tommy Reffell kept Leicester in the contest at half-time and the Tigers took the lead when Nicky Smith touched down for a third try early in the second period.
Russell’s penalty nine minutes from the end edged Bath back in front.
However, Leicester snatched it at the last after Thomas du Toit – who was yellow-carded as a result – caught Searle with a high tackle and the replacement flyhalf held his nerve.
“When things didn’t go our way, and went towards Bath, we just stuck to the process,” said Leicester head coach Geoff Parling.
“We stuck to our job, we worked hard for each other and eventually put ourselves, at the end, in a position to win that game.”
Teenage sensation Caluori stole the show in Saracens’ rout of Sale.
The England Under-20 international used his towering frame to torment the Sharks in the air and also displayed his ruthless streak with five blistering finishes.
A harrowing evening for the visitors was compounded by a 20-minute red card for hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie for a dangerous tackle, endangering his availability for England’s autumn opener against Australia on November 1.
The sides were only separated by an Owen Farrell penalty at half-time with the home side 17-14 in front.
However, Cowan-Dickie’s dismissal and a yellow card for Tom O’Flaherty left the visitors playing with just 13 men for a spell early in the second half.
Caluori ran amok as Saracens ran in 10 tries against a Sale side that had conceded just six in their opening three games of the season.
Saracens climb up to second in the table, ahead of Bath on points difference.
Leicester move up to fifth, one point ahead of sixth-placed Sale.
See below for Saturday’s scores and scorers!
Saturday, October 18:
Leicester Tigers 22-20 Bath
The scorers:
For Leicester:
Tries: Cracknell, Reffell, Smith
Cons: O’Connor 2
Pen: Searle
For Bath:
Tries: Frost, Underhill, Redpath
Con: Russell
Pen: Russell
Teams:
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Solomone Kata, 12 Joseph Woodward, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Tom Whiteley, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Ollie Chessum (captain), 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Ale Loman, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Ollie Allan, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Will Wand.
Bath: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Tom de Glanville, 13 Louie Hennessey, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (captain), 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ethan Staddon, 5 Ross Molony, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Beno Obano.
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Ewan Richards, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Will Butt, 23 Arthur Green.
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Hamish Grant, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Christophe Ridley
Saracens 65-14 Sale Sharks
The scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Gonzalez, Caluori 5, Penalty try, Tizard, Burke, Earl
Cons: Farrell 5
Pen: Farrell
For Sale Sharks:
Tries: Rodd, R. du Preez
Cons: Ford 2
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Max Malins, 14 Noah Caluori, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Lucio Cinti, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Charlie Bracken, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Jamie George, 1 Eroni Mawi.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Nick Isiekwe, 21 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 22 Gareth Simpson, 23 Jack Bracken.
Sale Sharks: 15 Tom O’Flaherty, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Sam Dugdale, 7 Tristan Woodman, 6 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ben Bamber, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 James Harper, 19 Tom Burrow, 20 Ethan Caine, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 23 Luke James.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, John Meredith
TMO: Andrew Jackson
