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Leicester Tigers remain top dogs after holding off Harlequins
George Ford kicked 11 points to maintain Leicester’s unbeaten start to the season by winning a titanic struggle with the reigning champions.
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Ford kicked three penalties and converted Harry Potter’s try as Tigers took their winning run to nine Premiership matches, their best league run since 10 was achieved between November 2001 and March 2002.
Louis Lynagh scored Harlequins’ try with Marcus Smith kicking three penalties but Smith and Danny Care were outpointed in the key half-back duel with the experienced Ford and Ben Youngs.
Leicester prop Dan Cole celebrated his 200th Premiership appearance before a sell-out crowd of 24,202 at Mattioli Woods Welford Road and his side were soon ahead when Ford knocked over a simple penalty.
Smith responded with one for Quins but Ben Youngs brought the home crowd to its feet with a superb 40-metre break which took him close to the try-line – but Tigers were unable to capitalise as Ford failed to find Hanro Liebenberg with his cross-field kick.
A second penalty from Smith put the visitors 6-3 in front at the end of the first quarter, which Leicester had largely controlled, but they could not take advantage of some powerful carries from Ellis Genge and Nemani Nadolo.
Youngs was the star of the opening exchanges as he made another sizzling break to leave Alex Dombrandt in his wake, but desperate defence from Quins kept the scrum-half out.
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Leicester turned down a couple of kickable penalties and were narrowly denied when Freddie Steward was forced into touch inches short by the combined efforts of Tyrone Green and Cadan Murley.
Ford brought the scores level with his second success before Smith was yellow-carded for knocking the ball from Youngs’ hands, with Ford kicking the resulting penalty.
Leicester number eight Jasper Wiese then followed Smith to the sin-bin for a no-arms tackle and the visitors should have made then pay but Huw Jones, on his first Premiership start, inexplicably went for glory when there was a clear overlap outside him. A golden opportunity was lost so Tigers held on for a 9-6 interval lead.
Three minutes after the restart, Tigers scored the first try when Ford and Youngs neatly combined before Potter collected the scrum-half’s kick ahead to score.
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Smith and Wiese both returned from the bin before Smith kept Quins in contention with his third penalty.
The outstanding Youngs was replaced by Richard Wigglesworth with 25 minutes remaining and it was in time to see Lynagh score a splendid solo try by skilfully kicking ahead and winning the race to touch down. Smith’s touchline conversion crucially went wide so Leicester held a two-point advantage going into the final 15 minutes.
Ford was then presented with his most difficult kick of the afternoon and although he was off target from 45 metres on an angle, his side held on for a deserved victory.
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments