Leicester Tigers grind out 12-6 victory over London Irish in Aviva Premiership

London Irish were destroyed in the scrum by a dominant Leicester pack

Leicester Tigers moved up to sixth spot in the Aviva Premiership with a dour 12-6 win over London Irish at the Madejski Stadium.

An error-ridden contest was dominated by penalties and scrums with neither side remotely threatening the try-line.

Tigers fly-half Freddie Burns kicked two penalties and dropped a goal before leaving the field at half-time, with his replacement David Mele landing a second-half penalty.

Shane Geraghty kicked two penalties for Irish but they were taken apart at the scrum by a dominant Leicester pack. Referee Wayne Barnes eventually lost patience and yellow-carded Geoff Cross five minutes before the interval.

Leicester were marginally the better side but they could not take advantage of Cross’ sin-binning, and their wait for a first Premiership try since January 4 goes on.

The first of many scrum offences by Irish on six minutes gave Burns the chance to open the scoring and he made no mistake with an excellent kick. However, he was off target with a similar effort moments later.

Leicester dominated the opening period and two clever kicks from Burns secured his side a platform in the home 22, from which he dropped a goal to extend the lead.

Another scrum penalty saw Burns again on target before Irish suffered another blow when they lost Topsy Ojo to injury.

Geraghty got Irish off the mark on the half-hour but the Exiles continued to have problems with their set piece.

Cross was sin-binned but Burns could not capitalise as he missed the resulting penalty, and another long-distance effort, to leave Leicester 9-3 ahead at the interval.

Mele's introduction at the break caused severe disruption to the Tigers as he and Sam Harrison alternated in the fly-half berth, but they remained the better side in the early stages of the second half.

Geraghty cut Irish’s deficit with his second penalty of a wet afternoon but Mele responded to restore the visitors’ six-point lead heading into the final quarter.

Irish threatened to cause an upset by dominating the final 10 minutes but Tigers' defence held firm to secure four valuable league points.