Leicester Tigers made it two Aviva Premiership wins in the space of five days as they dug deep to secure a 21-16 victory over Bristol Rugby.

After beating Harlequins at Welford Road on Sunday, Tigers had the shortest of turnarounds to Friday’s trip to Ashton Gate.
 
They eased into a 21-6 lead early in the second-half through Adam Thompstone’s fourth try of the season and a first in the Aviva Premiership for Ellis Genge against his old club.
 
But as the bodies tired, they had to withstand a late fightback from the hosts who scored through Tigers old boy Rob Hawkins to claim a losing bonus point.
 
Manu Tuilagi returned to the Tigers squad for the first time since the opening game of the season taking his place among the replacements.

Tigers academy graduates Will Evans and George Worth came into the starting line-up this week. Worth made his first league start as he replaced Mathew Tait, who suffered a fractured jaw in the win over Harlequins last Sunday, while Evans came into the back row. Sam Harrison returned at scrum-half and Graham Kitchener came into the second row.
 
Bristol were captained by Jordan Crane, the former Tigers No8, who made his first appearance against his old club since his summer move to Ashton Gate.
 
Tigers threatened with their first attack. Adam Thompstone, the Lumbers Player of the Month, climbed above Jack Tovey to claim Burns’s high kick and landed in space. Jordan Williams got across to make the tackle and Thompstone’s offload evaded Betham’s hands.
 
Burns was off target with a penalty from a central position as Tigers dominated the early exchanges.
 
Burns was alert in defence to halt Bristol’s first attack. Bristol scrum-half Rhodri Williams darted down the blindside at a scrum catching the Tigers defence napping. But Burns made the ground across to the right flank to tackle him into touch 10m out.
 
Bristol spoiled the lineout to retake possession. And after a series of drives around the fringes they were awarded a penalty that Billy Searle knocked over for a 3-0 lead after 10 minutes.
 
Tigers made a change on 15 minutes with Lachlan McCaffrey replacing Mike Fitzgerald in the back row. McCaffrey went to No8 with Hamilton at blindside.
 
Tigers had the majority of possession and territory in the opening quarter while Bristol were content to soak up pressure and look to force the errors. But it was the home side that erred when they went offside in the shadow of their posts and Burns’s penalty levelled the scores.
 
Kitchener and Slater worked well on Bristol lineout ball and stole a possession for a second time in the game to allow Slater to run at the home defence. Bristol infringed at the breakdown and Burns kicked Tigers into a 6-3 lead.
 
Tom Brady made a brilliant break from the restart to take Tigers back up to the home 22. But when play was moved to the right Betham spilled possession with the hint of an overlap outside.
 
At the other end, Owen Williams’s tackle on Will Hurrell forced a knock-on from the former Tigers centre and ended a threatening situation on the Leicester 22.
 
However, Bristol levelled with their second penalty nine minutes before half-time as they made the most of their visits to Leicester territory.
 
A lovely break out of two tackles by Worth had Tigers back onto the front foot. But Tigers ball was slowed down by the Bristol back-row, illegally according to referee Wigglesworth and Burns went to the corner.
 
Bristol infringed again when they pulled down the resulting lineout drive and lock Ian Evans received a yellow card.
 
Tigers made the man-advantage pay immediately. Burns launched a kick to the right wing where Thompstone again outjumped Tovey and again landed in space and this time he made the 10m to the line for the first try of the game. Unconverted, it gave Tigers an 11-6 lead three minutes before half-time.
 
It was all Tigers at this stage and their slick handling and quick recycling created another half opportunity on the right where Williams’s kick through just beat Thompstone into touch for the final play of the half.
 
It was a scrappy start to the second half with a series of lineouts and scrums punctuating the opening five minutes.
 
Evans,the Bristol lock, returned to the action and saw his team concede another penalty at a lineout that allowed Tigers to take play up towards his line. Tom Youngs, Genge and Slater and Genge were all stopped just short before Genge bulldozed a line under the posts for Tigers’ second try. Burns converted to move Leicester 18-6 ahead.
 
Kitchener was taken out by centre Jason Woodward as he claimed the restart, which saw him receive a yellow card from referee Wigglesworth.
 
Rob Hawkins, the former Leicester hooker, came on as a replacement and his front row was pinged at the next scrum. Burns pointed to the posts and moved Leicester 21-6 ahead.
 
Harry Thacker, Jono Kitto and Manu Tuilagi came on for Evans, Sam Harrison and Betham respectively as the game headed into the final quarter.
 
But Tigers were reduced to 14 men when McCaffrey was sent to the bin following a series of infringements in the Leicester 22. Bristol made their man advantage pay immediately, former Tiger Hawkins scored from close range after his fellow forwards had done the hard work around the fringes. Adrian Jarvis converted to leave Leicester 21-13 ahead with 16 minutes remaining.
 
Tigers were camped on the Bristol line but were unable to find a way through the ranks of home defenders. Eventually Bristol forced the knock on and the attacking position went away.
 
Instead, Bristol punished a lineout infringement with a penalty from Jarvis to move the hosts to within a score of Tigers heading into the final three minutes.
 
There was one last chance for Bristol to attack from a lineout on the Leicester 10m line. But Tuilagi’s tackle on Hurrell forced the knock-on in midfield to signal full-time.