Wasps stumped by Twelvetrees

Billy Twelvetrees: Scored every point for Leicester

Billy Twelvetrees scored every point for Leicester as the Tigers condemned Wasps to a sixth straight Aviva Premiership defeat with a 29-11 success at Welford Road.

The 23-year-old, starting at fly-half in the absence of the injured Toby Flood, scored two tries, two conversions and five penalties in a comfortable win for the hosts.

Wasps made a bright start, catching Leicester unaware with an early Nic Berry try, but were on the back foot for long periods and the Tigers' pressure inevitably told in the end.

The Londoners' dismal recent run has left them above only Newcastle in the league standings, while Leicester remain in fourth and are now well positioned to mount another title challenge after recovering from a disappointing start to the campaign

Twelvetrees, who also scored 29 points in the reverse fixture earlier this season, did not make an ideal start as his wayward kick-off gave Wasps favourable territory and centre Elliot Daly slotted a subsequent penalty through the posts from long range.

Dominant

The hosts eventually started to dominate possession, however, and drew level via the boot of Twelvetrees after Tinus Du Plessis was penalised for not rolling away after a tackle.

But all their good work was undone straight from the restart when scrum-half Berry picked up the ball from a ruck and raced through a gaping hole on the right side of the Tigers' defence to score in the corner. Ryan Davis missed a tough conversion.

Leicester reduced the deficit to two points just before the 20-minute mark when Twelvetrees was on target with his second penalty after Wasps had entered a ruck from the side.

The home side then should have been punished for another defensive lapse, but Wasps lock Marco Wentzel fluffed his pass when he had two free men outside him with the try-line at their mercy.

And the Tigers took the lead when Geordan Murphy weaved his way through the defensive line before his offload rebounded off a Wasps hand and Twelvetrees pounced on the loose ball to score.

The 23-year-old also added the extras and notched another penalty as Leicester went in 16-11 up at the break, Davis having been successful with a penalty of his own in the meantime.

Promising

Wasps enjoyed a promising spell at the start of the second half but when Leicester finally won the ball back they immediately looked more dangerous and Twelvetrees knocked over a fourth penalty in the 51st minute.

Another long spell of Wasps possession followed but once more it yielded no points, as the offensive inadequacies that saw them blanked by Worcester last time again came to the forefront.

Wasps' problems were compounded when prop Tim Payne was made to pay for their repeated infringements at the breakdown with a yellow card, and Twelvetrees made no mistake with the subsequent penalty.

The Tigers had to wait until the very end of the sin-bin period to take advantage, but their second try finally came in the 72nd minute, with Ben Youngs playing in Twelvetrees under the posts for his second simple score.

The home side continued to stream forward in the closing stages but could not add any more points to their tally.