Leicester Tigers

England, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions have been unable to beat the Maori in recent years, but the two first-half tries gave Tigers a first-ever win over their illustrious opponents.

Tigers recovered from the shock of conceding an early try to the lively Willie Ripia to surge into a 22-7 lead after 30 minutes through Morris' and Thompstone's scores.

The Maori hit back with Tim Bateman's converted try just before half-time and a score for Charlie Ngatai after the break. But George Ford's two second-half penalties in a personal tally of 22 points kept the scoreboard ticking over and ensured Tigers became only the second team since 2003 to beat the Maori All Blacks, a run that stretched back 23 games, and the first team since England Saxons in the 2007 Churchill Cup Final.

Louis Deacon returned to captain Tigers, who were without 10 players away on Test duty, though they were able to field internationals Mathew Tait, George Chuter, Jordan Crane and Anthony Allen started. Prop Fraser Balmain and scrum-half Patrick Phibbs made their first starts.

The Kiwis were captained by New Zealand international Tanerau Latimer and included four All Blacks in their starting XV as well as a number of stars of Super Rugby.

The game was Tigers' closest home fixture to Remembrance Sunday and a crowd of 17,206 observed an impeccable minute's silence before singing the national anthems and then dropping silent for an exhilarating Maori Haka, which captivated everyone in the ground.

Tigers began the game positively with Mathew Tait running back Willie Ripia's poor clearance from deep. Tait appeared to be stopped by a high tackle but maintained possession and when the Maori were pinged two phases later Ford kicked Tigers into a 3-0 lead.

It was a short-lived lead as the Maori hit back with somne lovely ball-handling skills to score the game's first try. Hika Elliot offloaded out of the tackle for Jason Eaton who drew the last man before giving Frae Wilson a run under the posts. Ripia converted.

From the restart, Wilson's poor pass forced Ripia to field possession in-goal and concede the 5m scrum. Tigers attacked from the base and when Ed Slater was held in the tackle, Ford landed a simple penalty to leave Tigers 7-6 down after nine minutes.

Ford then found Morris on the left with a quickly-taken crossfield penalty. The winger kept ball in play and chipped ahead for Tait to chase but Elliot Dixon came across to cover. However, play was brought back for a block by Andre Taylor on Morris, the Maori full-back was given a yellow card and Ford punished him further with the penalty to put Tigers 9-7 ahead.

Tigers went further in front with their first try in the 18th minute. The move began with a catch and drive on the left before the ball was swept through Ford, Thompstone and then Tait, whose flat pass gave Morris enough space to dive in at the right corner for a well worked try. Ford's touchline conversion gave Tigers a 16-7 lead.

A sweeping break by Allen and Matt Smith turned defence into attack, taking Tigers out of their own 22 and into the Maori 22. The visitors went offside as Tigers secured quick ball giving Ford a simple penalty to extend the lead further.

The Maori were looking to throw the ball around and a lovely disguised pass by Wilson almost put Ripia through a hole on the Tigers 22. But the Maori tried to play too much rugby and Smith launched a counterattack when he blocked Bateman's attempted grubber. Smith hacked the ball over halfway and Thompstone showed electric pace to beat Andre Taylor's desperate dive before swooping under the posts for the try. Ford's extras gave Tigers a 26-7 lead with nine minutes to the break.

The Kiwis responded in clinical fashion to bring themselves right back into the game before half-time. Ripia knocked over his first penalty of the night before Kurt Baker angled a run from his right wing bether off the back of an attacking scrum and fed Bateman for a run to the line. It was converted by Ripia as Tigers led 26-17 at the break.

Dan Bowden came on for Smith shortly after the start of the second-half, and slotted in alongside Allen at centre.

A high tackle on Boris Stankovich allowed Ford to get the scoreboard going again five minutes into the second period with his seventh kick from seven attempts.

It needed good work by Julian Salvi to halt a flowing Kiwis move, the flanker picking off Ngatai's offload just as the Maori looked to have breached the Tigers defence.

At the other end, a catch and drive gave Tigers a solid base before the maul was pulled down. Tanerau was spoken to by referee Andrew Small but Ford was unable to add the penalty.

Bowden was shown a yellow card for a high tackle as the game entered its final quarter. The visitors made the man advantage count immediately with quick hands putting Ngatai in at the corner for their second try. Ripia's conversion cut Tigers' lead to 29-24.

Crane's run from deep took Tigers back into Maori territory where Thompstone fielded his own kick on the hosts' 22. Tigers piled forward and when Jarred Hoeata killed the ball he was yellow-carded and Ford added the penalty for a 32-24 lead.

The game became disjointed as it entered the closing stages with the Maori trying to force the play and committing handling errors amid some big Tigers tackles.

The Maori worked one last opportunity on the right but their replacement prop Bronson Murry was bundled into touch by Morris as Tigers held firm for a famous win.