Tigers end away drought

Leicester ended their five-month bout of travel sickness with a thrilling 31-28 win over third-placed London Irish on Sunday.

A spectacular fightback in the final quarter saw the Exiles score twice in the dying moments but it was not enough to overcome a resolute Tigers side.

Leicester, who had lost their last five away games stretching back to September, dominated for much of the game with sharp intelligent attacking play and a gargantuan defence.

The Exiles' respone, although explosive in the extreme, came too late to affect the outcome but did ensure a losing bonus point

Shane Geraghty put the first points on the board for the hosts with a 34 metre penalty awarded inside the first minute.

But Leicester replied moments later, after hooker James Buckland was penalised in the maul, Julien Dupuy slotting one home to level the score at 3-3.

Pressure

The Tigers kept the lion's share of possession, spending much of the opening quarter in the Exiles' half, and on 17 minutes Dupuy was again on target to edge his side into 6-3 lead.

The first try came on the 22-minute mark, thanks to a great steal by Ben Woods as he brought down Elvis Seveali'i inside the Leicester 22.

The recycled ball found Aaron Mauger who skipped through Seveali'I and Seilala Mapusua before offloading to Alesana Tuilagi.

Veteran Argentine prop Marcos Ayerza completed the move, crossing under the posts after latching on to the loose ball when Tuilagi's chip forward rebounded off a defender.

London Irish piled on the pressure from the restart and six minutes later it paid off, with a try from the powerful Steffon Armitage, who barrelled over from close range.

Geraghty missed the conversion attempt, leaving the scores on 13-8 in the visitors' favour.

Brilliant

On 31 minutes Dupuy extended the Tigers' lead to 16-8 with a penalty in front of the posts and four minutes later they had their second try, courtesy of a brilliant crossfield kick from Sam Vesty.

Matt Smith was awarded the score wide on the right after a brief wait for confirmation from the video referee.

This time Dupuy was unable to find the posts but the visitors went into the half-time break with a commanding 21-8 advantage

Leicester started the second half as they did the first and within a couple of minutes the blistering pace and power of Smith saw them go close to scoring their third try.

Again the Tigers piled on the pressure and camped themselves yards short of the Exiles' line.

But, with the hard work done, the waiting Ben Kay dropped a pass from the base of the ruck in what should have been a simple flop over the line.

It was the hosts who got onto the scoreboard first after the restart, Geraghty adding three much-needed points to close the gap top 21-11 with a great penalty effort.

Exquisite

Leicester however seemed unstoppable and their next try was simply exquisite in its execution.

A brilliant counterattacking move, following downfield a kick from Irish replacement Mike Catt, saw the ball spread wide on the left for Tuilagi.

The big winger cruised through Mapusua before neatly stepping inside and handing Smith a delightful switch pass to cross for his second of the match. The surefooted Dupuy added the extras to give the visitors a 28-11 lead.

But you underestimate Irish at your peril and four minutes later they replied with a score of their own, Sailosi Tagicakibau crossing in the corner after some great running from Paul Hodgson and brilliant vision from the experienced veteran Catt.

Geraghty again missed his conversion attempt from out wide but a galvanised Irish now began to hammer at the Tigers' door, only some titanic defending keeping the hosts out.

With seven minutes to go Dupuy stepped up to add three more, taking the score to 31-16 and, you would have thought, the game away from the hosts.

Irish however were not going down without a battle and a launched a spectacular fightback that brought them two tries in as many minutes.

The first came from Mapusua whose jinking run carried him through an, until now solid, Tigers' defence and in under the posts, with Geraghty adding the extras.

Then on 77 minutes Armitage crossed in the corner to reduce the deficit to just three points at 31-28 to Leicester.

Irish threw the kitchen sink at their visitors but the streetwise Tigers managed to slow the game down and the minutes ebbed away to give them a much-needed win.