Steve Borthwick's outfit secured a bonus-point win at Welford Road; a Joe Cokanasiga double helped Bath come from behind to beat Newcastle Falcons on Saturday afternoon in the Gallagher Premiership
Saturday 26 February 2022 20:47, UK
Leicester Tigers' victory over Gloucester Rugby moved them 16 points clear at the top of the Gallagher Premiership table, while Bath came from behind to beat Newcastle on Saturday.
Steve Borthwick's outfit secured their 15th victory of the Gallagher Premiership season the hard way, coming back from a two-point deficit at the interval.
Gloucester led 16-14 at half-time and, although they worked hard throughout, they were no match for a rampant Tigers after the break.
Leicester scored 18 unanswered points in one second-half spell to maintain their unbeaten home record for the season.
The Tigers' tries came from Jack van Poortvliet, Jasper Wiese, Hanro Liebenberg and Guy Porter, with Freddie Burns adding three penalties and three conversions.
Gloucester responded with tries from Ollie Thorley and Harry Elrington. Adam Hastings kicked three penalties and a conversion with George Barton adding the extras for Elrington's late consolation.
"Gloucester are a really good team, who really stretched us in that period before half-time so it was a tough old game," Steve Borthwick said.
"I thought we were in control when we took a 14-6 lead but Gloucester are a smart side and were able to come back and put us under pressure.
"In the first half it was two good teams trying to work each other out so we needed to be close to near our best to get the win."
He then quickly turned his attention to their forthcoming contest against Saracens.
"Next week we are playing the best team in the league, who will be coming off a bye week, so we will need to have recovered our minds by Monday to focus on that task."
A late Joe Cokanasiga double helped Bath come from behind to beat Newcastle Falcons 30-25.
The England international was named in Bath's matchday 23 for the first time since suffering a knee injury in pre-season and was instrumental in bringing about their first bonus-point triumph of their Gallagher Premiership campaign.
Bath went in 18-11 behind at the break but Cokanasiga came on after 53 minutes and came up with two tries in 12 minutes.
Fly-half Danny Cipriani kicked 10 points with England Under-20s forward Ewan Richards and Lewis Boyce also crossing the whitewash.
Miles Reid captained Bath for the first time and he emerged victorious, despite Bath going behind early to a George McGuigan try after five minutes.
"I'm delighted for the boys, especially to see Joe getting himself back on the pitch and the scoresheet," Bath's head coach Neal Hatley said. "Being able to bring him on has made a huge difference and he's turned the game for us."
"It's also great to see Miles on the pitch as well and to captain the side for the first time, as well as making a winning start.
"It's a great feeling to get a win today," Hatley continued. "We've fought hard for that and put in a committed performance and showed our resilience when we went down to 14 men in the second half for a spell as well.
"It's always a tough place to come up here so to be heading home with a win and a bonus point is fantastic."
