Racing 92 34-3 Leicester: Tigers crash out of Champions Cup
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 15/01/17 9:56am
Leicester's hopes of progressing in the Champions Cup were dashed as they slumped to a 34-3 defeat against Racing 92 at Stade Yves-du-Manoir.
The Top 14 champions punished a succession of Leicester errors to end their opponents' chances of making the quarter-finals in Aaron Mauger's second game since taking over from Richard Cockerill.
Xavier Chauveau, Marc Andreu and Gerbrandt Grobler all crossed in the first half and a penalty try after the break ended the game as a contest.
Leicester did improve in a tighter second period but were unable to come up with a try of their own and Andreu completed the scoring late on seal a comprehensive bonus-point win for Racing.
The English side had been thrashed by both Glasgow and Munster on the road earlier this season and the early exchanges in Paris only pointed to another one-sided encounter.
Scrum-half Chauveau soon crossed for the game's opening score in the 12th minute. Dan Carter missed the conversion but then booted a penalty before the New Zealander saw his team extend their advantage.
The score was all Leicester's fault, the Tigers opting to run the ball clear but then turning it over.
Andreu was the beneficiary, hacking on and dotting down under the posts. Carter added the simple extras to make it 15-0 and, with a quarter of the game gone, the visitors were in trouble.
Leicester did finally get themselves on the board with a Freddie Burns penalty but Racing soon moved further clear.
Carter missed with a penalty effort but Matt Tait knocked-on behind the posts, handing the French side a scrum five metres out.
From the set-piece lock Grobler powered over for another try Mauger's side could easily have prevented. Carter converted for a 22-3 half-time lead.
Racing's giant pack had finally turned up in Europe and another powerful forward surge saw them secure a bonus point soon after the restart.
A driving maul from a lineout was stopped illegally by the Tigers, referee Ben Whitehouse rightly going under the posts to award a penalty try.
Will Evans was yellow-carded for his role in trying to prevent the score, with Carter once again adding the extras.
Antoine Claassen's sin-binning for dragging down a Leicester maul then made it 14-a-side but the Tigers were still having no luck.
What looked like a legitimate try was adjudged to have been held up by Whitehouse and then the Welsh official decided Burns' kick to touch had gone dead.
The two incidents did not help Leicester's mood and Andreu's second try with a couple of minutes to go compounded a miserable evening for the visitors.
Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get 9 months half price. Hurry, offer ends January 16th!
