Leicester Tigers lifted the Premiership Sevens Plate silverware at The Stoop on Friday evening after beating London Irish in the final.
Tigers, cup finalists 12 months ago, were unable to go one better this time as they lost their quarter-final to Cardiff Blues, but progressed in the Plate competition with a 21-12 semi-final win over Northampton Saints.
Then in the final, they scored three unanswered tries in a 17-0 win over London Irish which allowed skipper George Tresidder to collect the trophy.
Gloucester and Newport Gwent Dragons battled out the Cup Final.
By that stage, Tigers were already celebrating Plate victory with tries from Josh Fowles, Phil Woodhead and Dan Rundle to topple Irish.
The opening points came from Fowles, latching on to a grubber kick from David Williams to dot down as almost the entire first half was played in the Irish half.
The Exiles found themselves down to six men after a yellow card in the final minute of the period, but Tigers were unable to take advantage and still led by the five points at the break.
Sharp work in midfield by Will Owen, spreading the play to the left, provided the opening for Ben Frankland to send Woodhead clear to double the lead in the second minute after the restart and soon afterwards Rundle showed his pace on the left to put the game out of reach.
Tigers had to come from 12-0 down against Saints to claim their place in the Final.
A break and step in midfield from Oli Bryant took him clear of the defence to finally get Tigers on the board just before half-time, and his conversion cut the gap to five points.
But from that point Tigers made the most of their opportunities, as a long pass from Frankland made the most of space on the left and Fowles offloaded for Andy Bulumakau to score his second try of the evening. Woodhead drop-kicked the conversion to give Tigers the lead for the first time at 14-12.
Another break from Bulumakau created the crucial next score, popping the ball for Rundle to finish and Woodhead chipped over the extras to put Tigers out of reach and extend their run in the competition.
Tigers were dropped into the Plate competition after conceding a try in the last minute of the game against Cardiff Blues in the opening match of the evening which gave the Welshmen a 19-14 victory.
The Blues took a second-minute lead but a turnover on their own tryline from the combined efforts of Fowles and Jake Farnworth provided possession for Bulumakau and he held off one tackler before running clear to score for Tigers. His conversion provided a 7-5 lead on the stroke of half-time.
An 80-metre break by skipper Tresidder and a break from wing Rundle almost led to another score early in the second half but both were halted short of the line.
Tigers did, though, build the pressure and capitalised on a good scrum for Bryant to squeeze through to score under the posts and his conversion stretched the lead to 14-5 with two minutes remaining.
Blues, however, produced an instant reply with a second Dan Fish try and his conversion cut their deficit to just two points with 55 seconds left on the clock. Then, with time up and the ball still in play, Tomos Williams broke through to score on the left. The conversion made it 19-14 and ended Tigers’ hopes in the main competition.
Tigers, cup finalists 12 months ago, were unable to go one better this time as they lost their quarter-final to Cardiff Blues, but progressed in the Plate competition with a 21-12 semi-final win over Northampton Saints.
Then in the final, they scored three unanswered tries in a 17-0 win over London Irish which allowed skipper George Tresidder to collect the trophy.
Gloucester and Newport Gwent Dragons battled out the Cup Final.
By that stage, Tigers were already celebrating Plate victory with tries from Josh Fowles, Phil Woodhead and Dan Rundle to topple Irish.
The opening points came from Fowles, latching on to a grubber kick from David Williams to dot down as almost the entire first half was played in the Irish half.
The Exiles found themselves down to six men after a yellow card in the final minute of the period, but Tigers were unable to take advantage and still led by the five points at the break.
Sharp work in midfield by Will Owen, spreading the play to the left, provided the opening for Ben Frankland to send Woodhead clear to double the lead in the second minute after the restart and soon afterwards Rundle showed his pace on the left to put the game out of reach.
Tigers had to come from 12-0 down against Saints to claim their place in the Final.
A break and step in midfield from Oli Bryant took him clear of the defence to finally get Tigers on the board just before half-time, and his conversion cut the gap to five points.
But from that point Tigers made the most of their opportunities, as a long pass from Frankland made the most of space on the left and Fowles offloaded for Andy Bulumakau to score his second try of the evening. Woodhead drop-kicked the conversion to give Tigers the lead for the first time at 14-12.
Another break from Bulumakau created the crucial next score, popping the ball for Rundle to finish and Woodhead chipped over the extras to put Tigers out of reach and extend their run in the competition.
Tigers were dropped into the Plate competition after conceding a try in the last minute of the game against Cardiff Blues in the opening match of the evening which gave the Welshmen a 19-14 victory.
The Blues took a second-minute lead but a turnover on their own tryline from the combined efforts of Fowles and Jake Farnworth provided possession for Bulumakau and he held off one tackler before running clear to score for Tigers. His conversion provided a 7-5 lead on the stroke of half-time.
An 80-metre break by skipper Tresidder and a break from wing Rundle almost led to another score early in the second half but both were halted short of the line.
Tigers did, though, build the pressure and capitalised on a good scrum for Bryant to squeeze through to score under the posts and his conversion stretched the lead to 14-5 with two minutes remaining.
Blues, however, produced an instant reply with a second Dan Fish try and his conversion cut their deficit to just two points with 55 seconds left on the clock. Then, with time up and the ball still in play, Tomos Williams broke through to score on the left. The conversion made it 19-14 and ended Tigers’ hopes in the main competition.
