Leicester Tigers tame careless Bears to move up to second in table

Leicester underlined their Gallagher Premiership play-off credentials by beating fellow title hopefuls Bristol 36-19 at Ashton Gate.

The Tigers climbed above Bristol, Sale and Saracens into second place, with four regular-season rounds remaining.

Bristol failed to collect a Premiership try-scoring bonus point for the first time since late December after Leicester successfully stalled their free-scoring machine.

Wings Adam Radwan and Ollie Hassell-Collins, scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet, full-back Freddie Steward and lock Cameron Henderson scored tries for the Tigers, with fly-half Handre Pollard kicking three conversions and a penalty and Jamie Shillcock slotting one conversion.

Bristol trailed by 17 points at the interval, and while they rallied after the break, the home side’s try-count stopped at three after Gabriel Ibitoye, Kalaveti Ravouvou and Harry Randall touched down, while AJ MacGinty added two conversions.

Gallagher Premiership

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

Bath

14

12

2

0

61

2

Leicester

14

8

5

1

46

3

Bristol

14

8

6

0

46

4

Sale

14

9

5

0

44

5

Saracens

14

8

6

0

44

6

Gloucester

14

7

7

0

41

7

Harlequins

14

6

7

1

38

8

Northampton

14

6

8

0

33

9

Exeter Chiefs

14

3

11

0

21

10

Newcastle

14

2

12

0

12

It was an outstanding performance on the road by Leicester, one that was underpinned by an impressive display up-front, with skipper Julian Montoya, lock Ollie Chessum and flanker Tommy Reffell among those to the fore.

Bristol monopolised initial possession, but Leicester rocked them on their heels through a fourth-minute try after Van Poortvliet broke clear and Radwan applied the finish.

The lead did not last long, though, as Bristol drew level when Ibitoye touched down on his return from injury claiming a try that owed everything to Ravouvou’s audacious reverse pass.

Ibitoye then went from hero to villain in the space of seven minutes, throwing out a reckless midfield pass 30 metres from his own line, and Hassell-Collins accepted the gift for a simple interception try that Pollard converted.

Leicester had the bit between their teeth, and they struck again early in the second quarter after a solid attacking scrum allowed Van Poortvliet all the time and space he needed to claim Tigers’ third try. Pollard’s conversion made it 19-5.

Bristol could make no headway as half time approached, and Pollard kicked a short-range penalty that took Leicester past 20 points and left the home side with mounting problems.

Their cause was helped when Leicester prop Joe Heyes received a yellow card following a head-on-head collision with Bristol captain Fitz Harding, but Tigers kept their composure under pressure and took a 22-5 lead into half-time.

Bristol knew they had to score next to stay in the contest, and it was Ravouvou who delivered by rounding off a flowing move complete with celebratory dive between the posts, with MacGinty converting.

Signs of a revival were flickering, but errors also studded Bristol’s play and Leicester enjoyed a degree of territorial control entering the final quarter.

The visitors then struck again as Steward produced a finish for the bonus-point try, although Bristol were not quite down and out, and Randall’s touchdown – converted by MacGinty – made it a 10-point game again with 14 minutes left.

Tigers centre Solomone Kata was yellow-card after a head-on-head collision, and Bristol suddenly had momentum, with Randall almost claiming his second try, but it was ruled out for a knock-on.

Bristol could not create another opportunity after that, and Leicester collected a priceless away win in their pursuit of a top-four finish as Henderson scored from the game’s final play and Shillcock converted.