Telusa Veainu scored one of the great solo tries at Welford Road in Leicester Tigers' 34-13 bonus point victory over Worcester Warriors on Saturday afternoon.
There seemed little danger when the full-back received possession in his own half but he picked a line through a scattered Worcester defence to run 60m and score his first try of the season.
It was an amazing score that had Welford Road on its feet, and came after winger Tom Brady burst through to score his first try in Tigers colours to set his team on the way to victory on the Aviva Premiership.
Tigers scored two more tries after the break which owed much to the grunt of the forward pack. First Logovi’i Mulipola drove over from close range before Graham Kitchener scored the all-important fourth from a similar position.
Brady was joined by Ellis Genge in making a first Welford Road start for the Tigers. Genge lined up alongside Tom Youngs and Greg Bateman in the front row, while Brady was on the wing.
Dom Barrow partnered Graham Kitchener at lock after returning from injury as part of the squad at Sale Sharks last weekend. Harry Thacker was included in the matchday squad for the first time this season.
Tigers made a late change to their team with Mike Fitzgerald starting in the back row in place of Mike Williams, who was injured during the warm-up. Luke Hamilton came onto the bench.
Worcester, with former Tigers Sam Vesty and Mefin Davies in their coaching team, included ex-Tigers Perry Humphreys and Ryan Lamb in their backline.
Tigers came under pressure in the fourth minute as Worcester went for the corner with a kickable penalty. Tigers defended their line resolutely, and won a holding-on penalty under their posts.
A high tackle on Dom Barrow by Donncha O’Callaghan, Worcester’s veteran lock, presented Owen Williams with a simple penalty to give Tigers a 3-0 lead after eight minutes.
Tigers were pinged themselves for a high tackle but Lamb, from close to halfway, was short and wide with his kick.
Tigers had a solid scrum at their own put-in, and had the Worcester eight under pressure 30m from their line. It yielded a penalty and Williams doubled the advantage with his kick. It took Williams past 500 points for the Tigers in his 70th game for the club.
Williams was on form out of hand too, a monster clearance out of his 22 pinned Warriors deep in their half. It was typical of a cagey, tactical opening 20 minutes, with the boot very much to the fore.
But when Tigers did shift the ball through the hands they created a chance on the right. Kitto, Kitchener and Thompstone all got the ball away from the tackle but Jamie Shillcock did well to close out the space for O’Connor, who threw a forward pass.
But Tigers were soon back on the attack and had the game’s first try through winger Brady, who ran a lovely line onto Williams's past to break the defence and score behind the posts. Williams landed a simple conversion to move Tigers 13-0 ahead.
Superb work first by Fitzgerald to disrupt a Worcester lineout 5m out, and then by Thompstone to win the holding-on penalty close to his line, continued to shut the visitors out.
The ground came alive soon after when Veainu scored one of the great individual tries seen at Welford Road. The full-back received the ball in his own half and danced past the first two tacklers, bounced off Alafoti Faosiliva and rounded last man Shillcock to score his first try of the season. Williams’s conversion moved Tigers 20-0 ahead, eight minutes before the break.
Thompstone was alert to Humphreys’ run towards the left corner, tackling man and ball into touch.
Slick hands almost created a third try for Tigers just before the break, however, Veainu’s pass evaded O’Connor into touch as the line beckoned.
It was O’Connor’s last involvement, the flanker replaced by Will Evans during half-time with Tigers holding a 20-0 lead.
Tigers were slow out of the blocks at the start of the second half. Worcester put their first points on the board within four minutes of the restart, Lamb landed a penalty after Genge failed to roll from a tackle. Lamb added another three-pointer, this time for Betham not rolling, to cut the Leicester lead to 20-6.
Warriors had the edge at this stage, but could not find a way through with a lineout drive. Brady then harassed Lamb into a mistake, swooped on the loose ball, and took Tigers back into Worcester territory.
A brilliant break by Evans, latching onto McCaffrey’s offload, gave Tigers impetus in attack. Kitchener and Evans were stopped short before Logovi’i Mulipola claimed a try from close range. However, the TMO ruled that he was held up over the line.
Before the resulting set-piece, Worcester replacement Na’ama Leleimalefaga went off for a head injury assessment and, with no other loosehead prop available, the game went to uncontested scrums. But from the scrum Tigers found a way through for their third try, Mulipola this time burrowed over to score next to the posts. Williams converted and Tigers led 27-6 with 15 minutes to find the bonus score.
Instead it was the Warriors who scored next. Phil Dowson set up lineout the drive, and hooker Jaba Bregvadze peeled off the back to the maul to score. Lamb added the extras as Tigers led 27-13.
Leleimalefaga failed to return from his HIA, forcing Warriors to go down to 14 men for the final six minutes.
Williams pounced on a mistake by Lamb on his own 22. However, he did not quite have the legs to reach the line before Dean Hammond tackled him. But Tigers were quick to support and kept the ball alive, sending forward after forward down on the Warriors defence before man-of-the-match Kitchener finally forced his way over for the bonus-point try against his former club.
There seemed little danger when the full-back received possession in his own half but he picked a line through a scattered Worcester defence to run 60m and score his first try of the season.
It was an amazing score that had Welford Road on its feet, and came after winger Tom Brady burst through to score his first try in Tigers colours to set his team on the way to victory on the Aviva Premiership.
Tigers scored two more tries after the break which owed much to the grunt of the forward pack. First Logovi’i Mulipola drove over from close range before Graham Kitchener scored the all-important fourth from a similar position.
Brady was joined by Ellis Genge in making a first Welford Road start for the Tigers. Genge lined up alongside Tom Youngs and Greg Bateman in the front row, while Brady was on the wing.
Dom Barrow partnered Graham Kitchener at lock after returning from injury as part of the squad at Sale Sharks last weekend. Harry Thacker was included in the matchday squad for the first time this season.
Tigers made a late change to their team with Mike Fitzgerald starting in the back row in place of Mike Williams, who was injured during the warm-up. Luke Hamilton came onto the bench.
Worcester, with former Tigers Sam Vesty and Mefin Davies in their coaching team, included ex-Tigers Perry Humphreys and Ryan Lamb in their backline.
Tigers came under pressure in the fourth minute as Worcester went for the corner with a kickable penalty. Tigers defended their line resolutely, and won a holding-on penalty under their posts.
A high tackle on Dom Barrow by Donncha O’Callaghan, Worcester’s veteran lock, presented Owen Williams with a simple penalty to give Tigers a 3-0 lead after eight minutes.
Tigers were pinged themselves for a high tackle but Lamb, from close to halfway, was short and wide with his kick.
Tigers had a solid scrum at their own put-in, and had the Worcester eight under pressure 30m from their line. It yielded a penalty and Williams doubled the advantage with his kick. It took Williams past 500 points for the Tigers in his 70th game for the club.
Williams was on form out of hand too, a monster clearance out of his 22 pinned Warriors deep in their half. It was typical of a cagey, tactical opening 20 minutes, with the boot very much to the fore.
But when Tigers did shift the ball through the hands they created a chance on the right. Kitto, Kitchener and Thompstone all got the ball away from the tackle but Jamie Shillcock did well to close out the space for O’Connor, who threw a forward pass.
But Tigers were soon back on the attack and had the game’s first try through winger Brady, who ran a lovely line onto Williams's past to break the defence and score behind the posts. Williams landed a simple conversion to move Tigers 13-0 ahead.
Superb work first by Fitzgerald to disrupt a Worcester lineout 5m out, and then by Thompstone to win the holding-on penalty close to his line, continued to shut the visitors out.
The ground came alive soon after when Veainu scored one of the great individual tries seen at Welford Road. The full-back received the ball in his own half and danced past the first two tacklers, bounced off Alafoti Faosiliva and rounded last man Shillcock to score his first try of the season. Williams’s conversion moved Tigers 20-0 ahead, eight minutes before the break.
Thompstone was alert to Humphreys’ run towards the left corner, tackling man and ball into touch.
Slick hands almost created a third try for Tigers just before the break, however, Veainu’s pass evaded O’Connor into touch as the line beckoned.
It was O’Connor’s last involvement, the flanker replaced by Will Evans during half-time with Tigers holding a 20-0 lead.
Tigers were slow out of the blocks at the start of the second half. Worcester put their first points on the board within four minutes of the restart, Lamb landed a penalty after Genge failed to roll from a tackle. Lamb added another three-pointer, this time for Betham not rolling, to cut the Leicester lead to 20-6.
Warriors had the edge at this stage, but could not find a way through with a lineout drive. Brady then harassed Lamb into a mistake, swooped on the loose ball, and took Tigers back into Worcester territory.
A brilliant break by Evans, latching onto McCaffrey’s offload, gave Tigers impetus in attack. Kitchener and Evans were stopped short before Logovi’i Mulipola claimed a try from close range. However, the TMO ruled that he was held up over the line.
Before the resulting set-piece, Worcester replacement Na’ama Leleimalefaga went off for a head injury assessment and, with no other loosehead prop available, the game went to uncontested scrums. But from the scrum Tigers found a way through for their third try, Mulipola this time burrowed over to score next to the posts. Williams converted and Tigers led 27-6 with 15 minutes to find the bonus score.
Instead it was the Warriors who scored next. Phil Dowson set up lineout the drive, and hooker Jaba Bregvadze peeled off the back to the maul to score. Lamb added the extras as Tigers led 27-13.
Leleimalefaga failed to return from his HIA, forcing Warriors to go down to 14 men for the final six minutes.
Williams pounced on a mistake by Lamb on his own 22. However, he did not quite have the legs to reach the line before Dean Hammond tackled him. But Tigers were quick to support and kept the ball alive, sending forward after forward down on the Warriors defence before man-of-the-match Kitchener finally forced his way over for the bonus-point try against his former club.
