Leicester Tigers began 2015 with a 17-8 victory over Bath Rugby at a sold-out Welford Road that moved them joint fourth in the Aviva Premiership.
Tom Youngs scored Tigers’ only try of the game in the first half, finishing off a lineout drive for his first try of the season.
Fly-half Owen Williams kicked four penalties for the Tigers, who had gone behind to George Ford’s early penalty.
Bath scored a try of their own right on full-time, but it proved only a consolation when Ford missed the conversion that would have given them a losing bonus point.
The result, in front of a capacity 24,000 crowd, moved Tigers above Exeter Chiefs and level on points with Wasps in the Aviva Premiership table.
Tigers welcomed back Marcos Ayerza and Youngs after they started among the replacements at Sale Sharks. With Dan Cole ruled out with a foot injury, they were joined in the front row by Fraser Balmain. Graham Kitchener came into the second row and there were starting spots in the backs for Anthony Allen and Adam Thompstone. Julian Salvi made the 100th appearance of his Tigers career.
Bath included former Tigers backs Ford and Horacio Agulla in their starting XV and ex-Leicester scrum-half Micky Young on the bench.
Bath settled into the game with a period of early possession. And they were awarded the game’s first penalty when Tigers were pinged for going off their feet, and Ford kicked the visitors into a 3-0 lead.
Salvi blocked Ford’s clearance and Ayerza picked up the loose ball to give Tigers their first attacking position. Bath were ruled offside but Williams struck the left post with the penalty. The ball rebounded to Matt Garvey but Miles Benjamin was quick to react, preventing the ball being released and winning a second penalty that Williams landed to level the scores.
A tap penalty by Ben Youngs had Tigers on the attack again. Benjamin and Vereniki Goneva combined down the left where the Fiji international was stopped eight metres short. Bath went offside inn defence, Tigers kicked to the corner but the lineout was lost and the chance went away.
Referee Matthew Carley spoke to Bath captain Stuart Hooper after another penalty against the visitors in their 22 moments later.
Tigers went for the corner, Crane set up the drive and with the Bath pack under pressure Benjamin and Goneva joined in to help it over the line, where Tom Youngs applied the finish. It went unconverted as Tigers led 8-3 after 18 minutes.
Williams extended the Leicester lead with his second penalty after Bath infringed at a lineout close to halfway.
Tigers enjoyed a huge period of pressure in the Bath 22 with Goneva and Williams going close to adding a second try. Crane and Ayerza were also stopped just short as they picked and went from the rucks but met solid Bath defence. The visitors were pinged for a no-arms tackle but when Tigers went to the corner, Dave Attwood stole the lineout on his own line and Ford cleared.
Bath counterattacked through Anthony Watson and Ford before putting together phase after phase in the Tigers 22. And they claimed a try when Ollie Devoto, on for Kyle Eastmond, found Burgess to cross on the left but the final pass was ruled forward.
Tigers were called on again in defence with Chris Cook’s tap penalty almost caught them off guard. Burgess then knocked on 5m out as he tried to latch onto Ford’s pass but play was pulled back for an earlier penalty.
Bath went for the corner and Garvey peeled off the maul but was stopped by Williams, who worked with Crane to win the penalty for holding on.
A monster Ford penalty to the corner gave Bath one last attacking chance of the first-half. Tigers were pinged for coming in at the side of the maul but Ford missed a simple penalty to leave Tigers 11-3 ahead at the break.
Ben Youngs’ clever chip over the Bath defence had Cook under pressure from the chasing Benjamin, and he fumbled the ball out for a 10m lineout. However, Tigers were pinmged at the lineout and the chance went away.
Good defensive pressure in midfield had Bath going backwards in their own half, and when Salvi latched onto Burgess Tigers were awarded a holding-on penalty on the 10m line. Williams landed his kick to move Tigers 14-3 ahead.
It was a good start to the half for Tigers, who also forced Watson into a knock-on into touch and won turnover ball on a Bath lineout.
Excellent defence from Ben Youngs then caused a moment of indecision from Ford and resulted in Devoto being held in the choke tackle. Tigers were awarded a penalty at the resulting scrum and Williams landed his kick to give the hosts a 17-3 lead with 20 minutes to go.
Bath looked for an immediate reply with some neat hands in the backs almost creating an opening for Francois Louw but play was pulled back for a forward pass by Matt Banahan in the build-up.
However, Tigers were unable to clear the danger and had to defend a 5m lineout. But they held up the maul and then forced Ross Batty into a knock-on when the ball was moved into midfield.
Tigers were called on to defend a series of 5m lineouts as the game headed into the last 15 minutes. With a penalty advantage from one maul, Devoto kicked for Banahan on the left wing but the ball beat him into touch.
At the next lineout Bath fed Rokoduguni down the narrow side where he was bundled into touch by Robert Barbieri and Gibson 2m from the line. Tigers secured their own ball and found touch on the 22. There Kitchener stole the lineout and Sam Harrison kicked deeper into Bath territory to ease the pressure.
However, Bath scored with the final attack of the game, finally getting their lineout drive going and Batty applied the finish to the left of the posts. However, Ford was wide with the conversion as Tigers secured a first win of 2015 and Bath headed back to the West Country empty-handed.
Tom Youngs scored Tigers’ only try of the game in the first half, finishing off a lineout drive for his first try of the season.
Fly-half Owen Williams kicked four penalties for the Tigers, who had gone behind to George Ford’s early penalty.
Bath scored a try of their own right on full-time, but it proved only a consolation when Ford missed the conversion that would have given them a losing bonus point.
The result, in front of a capacity 24,000 crowd, moved Tigers above Exeter Chiefs and level on points with Wasps in the Aviva Premiership table.
Tigers welcomed back Marcos Ayerza and Youngs after they started among the replacements at Sale Sharks. With Dan Cole ruled out with a foot injury, they were joined in the front row by Fraser Balmain. Graham Kitchener came into the second row and there were starting spots in the backs for Anthony Allen and Adam Thompstone. Julian Salvi made the 100th appearance of his Tigers career.
Bath included former Tigers backs Ford and Horacio Agulla in their starting XV and ex-Leicester scrum-half Micky Young on the bench.
Bath settled into the game with a period of early possession. And they were awarded the game’s first penalty when Tigers were pinged for going off their feet, and Ford kicked the visitors into a 3-0 lead.
Salvi blocked Ford’s clearance and Ayerza picked up the loose ball to give Tigers their first attacking position. Bath were ruled offside but Williams struck the left post with the penalty. The ball rebounded to Matt Garvey but Miles Benjamin was quick to react, preventing the ball being released and winning a second penalty that Williams landed to level the scores.
A tap penalty by Ben Youngs had Tigers on the attack again. Benjamin and Vereniki Goneva combined down the left where the Fiji international was stopped eight metres short. Bath went offside inn defence, Tigers kicked to the corner but the lineout was lost and the chance went away.
Referee Matthew Carley spoke to Bath captain Stuart Hooper after another penalty against the visitors in their 22 moments later.
Tigers went for the corner, Crane set up the drive and with the Bath pack under pressure Benjamin and Goneva joined in to help it over the line, where Tom Youngs applied the finish. It went unconverted as Tigers led 8-3 after 18 minutes.
Williams extended the Leicester lead with his second penalty after Bath infringed at a lineout close to halfway.
Tigers enjoyed a huge period of pressure in the Bath 22 with Goneva and Williams going close to adding a second try. Crane and Ayerza were also stopped just short as they picked and went from the rucks but met solid Bath defence. The visitors were pinged for a no-arms tackle but when Tigers went to the corner, Dave Attwood stole the lineout on his own line and Ford cleared.
Bath counterattacked through Anthony Watson and Ford before putting together phase after phase in the Tigers 22. And they claimed a try when Ollie Devoto, on for Kyle Eastmond, found Burgess to cross on the left but the final pass was ruled forward.
Tigers were called on again in defence with Chris Cook’s tap penalty almost caught them off guard. Burgess then knocked on 5m out as he tried to latch onto Ford’s pass but play was pulled back for an earlier penalty.
Bath went for the corner and Garvey peeled off the maul but was stopped by Williams, who worked with Crane to win the penalty for holding on.
A monster Ford penalty to the corner gave Bath one last attacking chance of the first-half. Tigers were pinged for coming in at the side of the maul but Ford missed a simple penalty to leave Tigers 11-3 ahead at the break.
Ben Youngs’ clever chip over the Bath defence had Cook under pressure from the chasing Benjamin, and he fumbled the ball out for a 10m lineout. However, Tigers were pinmged at the lineout and the chance went away.
Good defensive pressure in midfield had Bath going backwards in their own half, and when Salvi latched onto Burgess Tigers were awarded a holding-on penalty on the 10m line. Williams landed his kick to move Tigers 14-3 ahead.
It was a good start to the half for Tigers, who also forced Watson into a knock-on into touch and won turnover ball on a Bath lineout.
Excellent defence from Ben Youngs then caused a moment of indecision from Ford and resulted in Devoto being held in the choke tackle. Tigers were awarded a penalty at the resulting scrum and Williams landed his kick to give the hosts a 17-3 lead with 20 minutes to go.
Bath looked for an immediate reply with some neat hands in the backs almost creating an opening for Francois Louw but play was pulled back for a forward pass by Matt Banahan in the build-up.
However, Tigers were unable to clear the danger and had to defend a 5m lineout. But they held up the maul and then forced Ross Batty into a knock-on when the ball was moved into midfield.
Tigers were called on to defend a series of 5m lineouts as the game headed into the last 15 minutes. With a penalty advantage from one maul, Devoto kicked for Banahan on the left wing but the ball beat him into touch.
At the next lineout Bath fed Rokoduguni down the narrow side where he was bundled into touch by Robert Barbieri and Gibson 2m from the line. Tigers secured their own ball and found touch on the 22. There Kitchener stole the lineout and Sam Harrison kicked deeper into Bath territory to ease the pressure.
However, Bath scored with the final attack of the game, finally getting their lineout drive going and Batty applied the finish to the left of the posts. However, Ford was wide with the conversion as Tigers secured a first win of 2015 and Bath headed back to the West Country empty-handed.
