Leicester Tigers back to winning ways in Premiership
PREMIERSHIP REPORT: Leicester Tigers moved up to fifth in the Premiership standings after they recorded a 27-19 win over Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop on Sunday.
Leicester travelled to Twickenham looking to end a losing run of two matches in the Premiership, with the reigning champions aiming to shake off the early season rust that saw them taste defeat to Sale Sharks and Saracens.
Harlequins head coach Tabai Matson had predicted a determined Tigers team to spring back into action this week, and the Fijian coach was on the money.
The Midlands team displayed a firm determination in the first half to claim a convincing 12-0 lead at the break, having sent openside flank Tommy Reffell and hooker Julian Montoya over for scores borne of driving mauls deep in Harlequins territory.
After dominating the first ten minutes for Reffell’s score, Leicester spent the following 25 minutes repelling a determined Quins side, with centre Luke Northmore having a 30th-minute score chalked off by referee Adam Leal for losing possession over the tryline.
Despite the famous Harlequins brand of attacking rugby finding holes in the Leicester defence, the 50/50 calls seemed to go against the men in the Famous Quarters, having to fight tooth and nail for each and every piece of possession.
Reffell crossed for his second try thirteen minutes into the second half, an acrobatic dive towards the corner flag this time, as the Tigers continued to dictate the pace of the fixture, with the attacking flashes Quins had displayed throughout the match falling short of converting into points.
Quins finally cracked the Leicester nut with twelve minutes left in play. Off an attacking scrum in centre field 20 metres from the Tigers’ line, Quins shipped the ball left through the hands of playmakers Marcus Smith and Tommy Allan, with the latter drawing the final defender before releasing left wing Cadan Murley over the line.
Tigers extended their lead to 13 points with a Burns penalty as reserve back row Matas Jurevicius was penalised for a mid-air clash with a Leicester player competing for the ball. A blow, but the visitors remained within two scores.
After Burns slotted a 73rd-minute penalty to take Tigers to 20 points, the final nail in the coffin for Quins came as Leicester secured the bonus-point score. On the counterattack from within their own half, Esterhuizen’s long pass had intended to find Quins’ outside backs for a late comeback run, only for England and British and Irish Lions wing Anthony Watson to pluck the ball out of the air before running Leicester’s fourth to leave Quins trailing by 20.
Murley secured his brace with just over a minute left on the clock, with the Quins attack breaking down tired Leicester legs to manufacture a huge overlap for Murley to canter through untouched.
The team seemed determined not to allow a low-mood finish for their supporters in front of another sell-out Stoop crowd. Counter-attacking all the way from their own try line as Leicester lost possession off an attacking line-out, Murley was quickest to the ball. The standout player for Quins, Murley raced up the pitch and came close to going all the way before being dragged down. Joe Marchant recycled possession in raid style, shipping the ball out to Smith, who found halfback partner Danny Care for a third Harlequins try.
It’s a tough home defeat for Quins, falling one try short of a try-scoring bonus point and one point short of a losing bonus point.
The scorers:
For Harlequins:
Tries: Murley 2, Care
Cons: Smith 2
For Leicester Tigers:
Tries: Reffell 2, Montoya, Watson
Cons: Burns 2
Pens: Burns
Source: quins.co.uk
As it stands after 6️⃣
Only five points between 8th and 3rd… 👀#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/XX8hzymBt4
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) October 16, 2022
