Leicester Tigers made it two wins from two games at the start of their Anglo-Welsh Cup campaign with a 42-3 victory over Newport Gwent Dragons.
Tigers followed up last weekend’s win on the road at Bath Rugby with six tries in a bonus-point victory at Welford Road on Saturday afternoon.
Owen Williams finished off brilliant work by Adam Thompstone to get the ball rolling before Thompstone scored the second try with a superb finish at the left corner.
Greg Bateman scored from close range for the third before Burns, who passed 400 points for the Tigers earlier in the half, brought up the bonus point before half-time.
The second-half drifted for long periods but Tigers finished with a flourish. Ellis Genge and Jack Roberts scored their first tries in Leicester colours in the final 10 minutes to set the seal on a good afternoon’s work.
Peter Betham, Owen Williams, Adam Thompstone and Freddie Burns were recalled to the backline, with Sam Harrison captaining the team from scrum-half.
Tom Croft made his first start of the season in a pack which included Graham Kitchener and Marcos Ayerza. Ayerza rejoined the front row which allowed Greg Bateman to move across to tighthead.
Ellis Genge, who had been with the England squad this week, was named in the replacement on his return to club duties alongside Pat Cilliers who was in line for his first appearance at Welford Road following a summer move from Montpellier.
Tigers were camped in the Dragons half for the opening five minutes of the contest but were unable to prise open the visitors’ defence. They came close when Burns slid a grubber behind the defence but the ball beat Worth and Thompstone into touch in-goal.
Thacker’s peel off the back of a lineout was well spotted by flanker James Thomas but he was whistled for not rolling after stopping the hooker’s run. Burns landed a simple penalty for Tigers’ first points and his 399th in a Leicester shirt.
He did not have to wait long to break through the 400-point barrier when he converted Williams’s first try of the season. Burns pounced on a loose pass on halfway to spark the attack. Williams slid a kick through that was brilliantly retrieved by Thompstone, the wing then looped a pass inside for the supporting Williams, who rode the tackle to score.
Dragons cut Leicester’s lead to 10-3 midway through the half through a huge penalty from their fly-half Geraint Rhys Jones.
Tigers tried to play with ball in hand as much as possible, but it was from Burns’s kick to the corner that Tigers profited from 12 minutes before the break. Rhys Jones kicked out on the full as he tried to exit and from the lineout Tigers struck.
The drive sucked in defenders and created space for Burns in midfield. He missed Betham’s run and the chance looked to have gone but Thompstone showed electric pace to finish from 25 metres for his third try of the season.
Tigers were dominant at the scrum and after Dragons conceded three set-piece penalties in succession, their tighthead prop Craig Mitchell received a warning from the referee before being replaced by Leon Brown.
Brown held up the scrum to better effect but Tigers still forged an opening for a third try. Neat hands around the ruck for Harrison and Kitchener gave Bateman the gap to score his first try of the season. Burns converted as Tigers led 22-3 five minutes before half-time.
Burns completed an excellent first-half’s work with the bonus-point fourth try three minutes later. He showed brilliant determination to chase 50m after his own clearance and somehow dived to retrieve the ball from the feet of Carl Meyer and slide over the line in one movement.
Burns had one last cameo before the half-time whistle, jinking past one tackle, chipping out of his 22 and regathering before offloading to Thacker.
Ellis Genge replaced Marcos Ayerza and Mat Tait replaced Williams at the break. Tait slotted in on the wing with Betham and Jack Roberts moving inside.
It was the forward power that brought Tigers their first points of the second half. A lineout drive took the pack under the posts where Dragons conceded a penalty and Burns kicked the three-pointer to move Leicester 30-3 ahead.
Tigers went down to 14 men shortly after the restart, Harry Wells receiving a yellow card for a swinging arm as he joined a ruck.
Cilliers came on for his Welford Road bow alongside fellow replacement George McGuigan eight minutes into the second period, replacing Bateman and Thacker respectively.
The game drifted during the third quarter, the flow broken by handling errors, replacements and a messy set-piece at scrum time.
But importantly, from a Tigers perspective, their line remained intact during Wells’s sin-bin period as they repelled a couple of 5m lineout drives.
When Wells returned, he was accompanied by Brendon O’Connor and Ed Slater, who came on for Will Evans and Kitchener. Jono Kitto then replaced Harrison for the final 20 minutes before Oli Bryant came on for Burns.
Referee Andrew Jackson finally lost patience with Dragons replacement prop Brown and issued him with a yellow card for dropping the scrum again.
It got no better with Mitchell back on the field, but with the advantage of a scrum penalty Tigers tried to add to their tally but Worth’s kick to the corner beat Thompstone into touch.
Play came back for the penalty, Slater set up the lineout drive to which Dragons had no answer and Genge finished for his first Leicester try. Worth took over kicking duties but was wide with the conversion.
Tigers finished with a flourish, Roberts angled a run through the on-rushing Dragons defence and over on the left for his first Leicester try. Worth converted with the last kick for the final points of the game.
Tigers followed up last weekend’s win on the road at Bath Rugby with six tries in a bonus-point victory at Welford Road on Saturday afternoon.
Owen Williams finished off brilliant work by Adam Thompstone to get the ball rolling before Thompstone scored the second try with a superb finish at the left corner.
Greg Bateman scored from close range for the third before Burns, who passed 400 points for the Tigers earlier in the half, brought up the bonus point before half-time.
The second-half drifted for long periods but Tigers finished with a flourish. Ellis Genge and Jack Roberts scored their first tries in Leicester colours in the final 10 minutes to set the seal on a good afternoon’s work.
Peter Betham, Owen Williams, Adam Thompstone and Freddie Burns were recalled to the backline, with Sam Harrison captaining the team from scrum-half.
Tom Croft made his first start of the season in a pack which included Graham Kitchener and Marcos Ayerza. Ayerza rejoined the front row which allowed Greg Bateman to move across to tighthead.
Ellis Genge, who had been with the England squad this week, was named in the replacement on his return to club duties alongside Pat Cilliers who was in line for his first appearance at Welford Road following a summer move from Montpellier.
Tigers were camped in the Dragons half for the opening five minutes of the contest but were unable to prise open the visitors’ defence. They came close when Burns slid a grubber behind the defence but the ball beat Worth and Thompstone into touch in-goal.
Thacker’s peel off the back of a lineout was well spotted by flanker James Thomas but he was whistled for not rolling after stopping the hooker’s run. Burns landed a simple penalty for Tigers’ first points and his 399th in a Leicester shirt.
He did not have to wait long to break through the 400-point barrier when he converted Williams’s first try of the season. Burns pounced on a loose pass on halfway to spark the attack. Williams slid a kick through that was brilliantly retrieved by Thompstone, the wing then looped a pass inside for the supporting Williams, who rode the tackle to score.
Dragons cut Leicester’s lead to 10-3 midway through the half through a huge penalty from their fly-half Geraint Rhys Jones.
Tigers tried to play with ball in hand as much as possible, but it was from Burns’s kick to the corner that Tigers profited from 12 minutes before the break. Rhys Jones kicked out on the full as he tried to exit and from the lineout Tigers struck.
The drive sucked in defenders and created space for Burns in midfield. He missed Betham’s run and the chance looked to have gone but Thompstone showed electric pace to finish from 25 metres for his third try of the season.
Tigers were dominant at the scrum and after Dragons conceded three set-piece penalties in succession, their tighthead prop Craig Mitchell received a warning from the referee before being replaced by Leon Brown.
Brown held up the scrum to better effect but Tigers still forged an opening for a third try. Neat hands around the ruck for Harrison and Kitchener gave Bateman the gap to score his first try of the season. Burns converted as Tigers led 22-3 five minutes before half-time.
Burns completed an excellent first-half’s work with the bonus-point fourth try three minutes later. He showed brilliant determination to chase 50m after his own clearance and somehow dived to retrieve the ball from the feet of Carl Meyer and slide over the line in one movement.
Burns had one last cameo before the half-time whistle, jinking past one tackle, chipping out of his 22 and regathering before offloading to Thacker.
Ellis Genge replaced Marcos Ayerza and Mat Tait replaced Williams at the break. Tait slotted in on the wing with Betham and Jack Roberts moving inside.
It was the forward power that brought Tigers their first points of the second half. A lineout drive took the pack under the posts where Dragons conceded a penalty and Burns kicked the three-pointer to move Leicester 30-3 ahead.
Tigers went down to 14 men shortly after the restart, Harry Wells receiving a yellow card for a swinging arm as he joined a ruck.
Cilliers came on for his Welford Road bow alongside fellow replacement George McGuigan eight minutes into the second period, replacing Bateman and Thacker respectively.
The game drifted during the third quarter, the flow broken by handling errors, replacements and a messy set-piece at scrum time.
But importantly, from a Tigers perspective, their line remained intact during Wells’s sin-bin period as they repelled a couple of 5m lineout drives.
When Wells returned, he was accompanied by Brendon O’Connor and Ed Slater, who came on for Will Evans and Kitchener. Jono Kitto then replaced Harrison for the final 20 minutes before Oli Bryant came on for Burns.
Referee Andrew Jackson finally lost patience with Dragons replacement prop Brown and issued him with a yellow card for dropping the scrum again.
It got no better with Mitchell back on the field, but with the advantage of a scrum penalty Tigers tried to add to their tally but Worth’s kick to the corner beat Thompstone into touch.
Play came back for the penalty, Slater set up the lineout drive to which Dragons had no answer and Genge finished for his first Leicester try. Worth took over kicking duties but was wide with the conversion.
Tigers finished with a flourish, Roberts angled a run through the on-rushing Dragons defence and over on the left for his first Leicester try. Worth converted with the last kick for the final points of the game.
