Leicester Tigers had to settle for a bonus point from a draining encounter at Twickenham as Bath Rugby came from behind to win The Clash 27-21.
Tigers led from the fifth-minute of Saturday’s Aviva Premiership game at HQ when Brendon O’Connor crossed for his sixth try of the season.
It got Tigers off to a flying side before Telusa Veainu’s individual score gave them an early 12-0 lead. But Bath, who had taken their 'home' fixture to Twickenham, hit back through Jonathan Joseph’s try while Freddie Burns and George Ford exchanged penalties as Tigers led 15-10 at the break.
Burns and Ford continued to trade penalties, as Tiger held a 21-13 lead going into the closing stages. But two tries from Bath’s England international full-back turned the game on its head and gave Bath victory.
The result left Tigers and Bath level on 52 points in the table, but Tigers remained in fourth spot thanks to a superior points advantage.
Ben Youngs made his 200th first-team appearance for Tigers, and was joined at half-back by Freddie Burns, who made his 50th Premiership appearance for the club.
The starting line-up was unchanged from the club's last Premiership outing, the derby victory over Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens a fortnight ago, as Tigers ran out for the first time since the arrival of new head coach Matt O'Connor.
There were two changes among the replacements where forwards Fraser Balmain and Harry Thacker were included.
The game kicked off in brilliant spring sunshine at the home of English rugby.
And Tigers got off to a flying start with a try inside five minutes. Burns’s flat pass created space on the left for JP Pietersen to exploit before Veainu sensed the opportunity to attack the blindside where O’Connor was on hand to step inside Matt Banahan to score. Burns landed the conversion to give Tigers a 7-0 lead.
Bath looked dangerous with ball in hand and Ford almost broke through a gap on halfway before JP Pietersen knocked on as he tried to intercept Jonathan Joseph’s pass.
Brilliant work by O’Connor stripped Joseph of possession on halfway. Veainu was again the quickest to react, he spotted that no-one was home for Bath and chipped through. The full-back beat Banahan in the race to the ball and dotted down at the left corner. Unconverted, it gave Tigers a 12-0 lead after 13 minutes.
Bath responded with their first try from their first sustained period of possession. They used the full width of the pitch to drag the Tigers defence out of shape and eventually Ford’s long pass found Joseph in space to score on the left. Ford landed the touchline conversion to cut Leicester’s lead to 12-7.
The momentum had swung Bath’s way at this stage, with Ford at the centre of things for them. And he cut Leicester’s lead by another three points when he landed a penalty from in front of the posts 13 minutes before the break.
Dan Cole’s half break took Tigers back into Bath territory and his offload looked to have set Maxime Mermoz into the Bath 22. However, play was pulled back for a forward pass.
Instead, Cole was at the fore as Tigers won a penalty at the resulting scrum. Burns drilled over his kick from 40m to move Leicester 15-10 ahead.
The momentum swung back towards Tigers as a lovely move off a lineout on halfway opened up the Bath defence for Thompstone to charge through. Ben Youngs sniped to make extra yards before Barrow’s charge was held up over the line by Watson.
On such tiny margins games can swing. Instead, with time up for half-time, Bath had the chance to add to their tally when Tigers were pinged at a ruck 40m out on the left. But Ford was wide with his kick as Tigers led 15-10 at the break.
Tom Youngs was replaced by George McGuigan after taking a knock at the end of the first period.
A scrum penalty right at the start of the second half gave Burns a shot at goal from halfway, which he landed to move past 200 points for the season.
An untidy passage saw Tigers overturn possession on the edge of the Bath 22 only for Barrow to spill possession as he tried to make ground before the defence could realign.
Tait took a knock and was replaced at centre by Jack Roberts.
Roberts’s first job was to help the team defend at a scrum 15m out and as he shot out of the line to tackle Charlie Ewels the lock took his eye off the ball and spilled possession.
However, Bath won a penalty at the resulting scrum and Ford landed his kick to cut Leicester’s lead to 18-13 with 30 minutes remaining.
Again the tide was swinging in Bath’s direction, and their cause was helped by an offside in midfield that allowed ford to kick for territory in the Leicester 22. But O’Connor was again at the front of the defensive effort, winning the penalty on the floor from Kane Palma-Newport.
Another penalty, this time at the scrum gave Tigers lineout ball in the Bath 22. The initial drive was well defended before Burns’s chip to the corner evaded Thompstone, though Bath had cover.
Tigers remained camped in the Bath 22 and stayed patient through some 15 phases. Eventually Roberts injected pace into the attack but Veainu spilled his offload and Kahn Fotuali’i found touch.
It was all Tigers with 15 minutes remaining as the temperatures inside Twickenham soared and the bodies tired. Pietersen, Veainu and O’Connor combined to make yards down the left flank and when the back-rower went to ground Bath were pinged for not rolling. Burns landed a pressure kick to move Tigers 21-13 in front.
It was Burns’s last involvement and he was replaced by Owen Williams.
The Bath response was instant. Toby Faletau broke a couple of tackles midway inside the Leicester half and he had Watson in support for a simple finish. There was still 12 minutes remaining when Ford added the conversion to leave Leicester 21-20 ahead.
Tigers went down to 14 men for the final 10 minutes after Pietersen was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on 10m inside the Bath half.
Bath made the extra man count immediately with a well-worked try. Banahan cut in from the left and popped a pass outside to Watson who was looping round for a free run behind the posts. Ford’s conversion gave Bath a 27-21 lead with eight minutes left.
Bath also ended the game with 14 men. Referee JP Doyle finally lost patience after a series of penalties at scrum time and yellow-carded their replacement prop Beno Obano.
Tigers had an attacking opportunity from the lineout on the Bath 22, but Harry Thacker, on as a replacement was isolated and conceded the holding-on penalty.
Instead, Bath were able to run down the clock to secure their win.
Tigers led from the fifth-minute of Saturday’s Aviva Premiership game at HQ when Brendon O’Connor crossed for his sixth try of the season.
It got Tigers off to a flying side before Telusa Veainu’s individual score gave them an early 12-0 lead. But Bath, who had taken their 'home' fixture to Twickenham, hit back through Jonathan Joseph’s try while Freddie Burns and George Ford exchanged penalties as Tigers led 15-10 at the break.
Burns and Ford continued to trade penalties, as Tiger held a 21-13 lead going into the closing stages. But two tries from Bath’s England international full-back turned the game on its head and gave Bath victory.
The result left Tigers and Bath level on 52 points in the table, but Tigers remained in fourth spot thanks to a superior points advantage.
Ben Youngs made his 200th first-team appearance for Tigers, and was joined at half-back by Freddie Burns, who made his 50th Premiership appearance for the club.
The starting line-up was unchanged from the club's last Premiership outing, the derby victory over Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens a fortnight ago, as Tigers ran out for the first time since the arrival of new head coach Matt O'Connor.
There were two changes among the replacements where forwards Fraser Balmain and Harry Thacker were included.
The game kicked off in brilliant spring sunshine at the home of English rugby.
And Tigers got off to a flying start with a try inside five minutes. Burns’s flat pass created space on the left for JP Pietersen to exploit before Veainu sensed the opportunity to attack the blindside where O’Connor was on hand to step inside Matt Banahan to score. Burns landed the conversion to give Tigers a 7-0 lead.
Bath looked dangerous with ball in hand and Ford almost broke through a gap on halfway before JP Pietersen knocked on as he tried to intercept Jonathan Joseph’s pass.
Brilliant work by O’Connor stripped Joseph of possession on halfway. Veainu was again the quickest to react, he spotted that no-one was home for Bath and chipped through. The full-back beat Banahan in the race to the ball and dotted down at the left corner. Unconverted, it gave Tigers a 12-0 lead after 13 minutes.
Bath responded with their first try from their first sustained period of possession. They used the full width of the pitch to drag the Tigers defence out of shape and eventually Ford’s long pass found Joseph in space to score on the left. Ford landed the touchline conversion to cut Leicester’s lead to 12-7.
The momentum had swung Bath’s way at this stage, with Ford at the centre of things for them. And he cut Leicester’s lead by another three points when he landed a penalty from in front of the posts 13 minutes before the break.
Dan Cole’s half break took Tigers back into Bath territory and his offload looked to have set Maxime Mermoz into the Bath 22. However, play was pulled back for a forward pass.
Instead, Cole was at the fore as Tigers won a penalty at the resulting scrum. Burns drilled over his kick from 40m to move Leicester 15-10 ahead.
The momentum swung back towards Tigers as a lovely move off a lineout on halfway opened up the Bath defence for Thompstone to charge through. Ben Youngs sniped to make extra yards before Barrow’s charge was held up over the line by Watson.
On such tiny margins games can swing. Instead, with time up for half-time, Bath had the chance to add to their tally when Tigers were pinged at a ruck 40m out on the left. But Ford was wide with his kick as Tigers led 15-10 at the break.
Tom Youngs was replaced by George McGuigan after taking a knock at the end of the first period.
A scrum penalty right at the start of the second half gave Burns a shot at goal from halfway, which he landed to move past 200 points for the season.
An untidy passage saw Tigers overturn possession on the edge of the Bath 22 only for Barrow to spill possession as he tried to make ground before the defence could realign.
Tait took a knock and was replaced at centre by Jack Roberts.
Roberts’s first job was to help the team defend at a scrum 15m out and as he shot out of the line to tackle Charlie Ewels the lock took his eye off the ball and spilled possession.
However, Bath won a penalty at the resulting scrum and Ford landed his kick to cut Leicester’s lead to 18-13 with 30 minutes remaining.
Again the tide was swinging in Bath’s direction, and their cause was helped by an offside in midfield that allowed ford to kick for territory in the Leicester 22. But O’Connor was again at the front of the defensive effort, winning the penalty on the floor from Kane Palma-Newport.
Another penalty, this time at the scrum gave Tigers lineout ball in the Bath 22. The initial drive was well defended before Burns’s chip to the corner evaded Thompstone, though Bath had cover.
Tigers remained camped in the Bath 22 and stayed patient through some 15 phases. Eventually Roberts injected pace into the attack but Veainu spilled his offload and Kahn Fotuali’i found touch.
It was all Tigers with 15 minutes remaining as the temperatures inside Twickenham soared and the bodies tired. Pietersen, Veainu and O’Connor combined to make yards down the left flank and when the back-rower went to ground Bath were pinged for not rolling. Burns landed a pressure kick to move Tigers 21-13 in front.
It was Burns’s last involvement and he was replaced by Owen Williams.
The Bath response was instant. Toby Faletau broke a couple of tackles midway inside the Leicester half and he had Watson in support for a simple finish. There was still 12 minutes remaining when Ford added the conversion to leave Leicester 21-20 ahead.
Tigers went down to 14 men for the final 10 minutes after Pietersen was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on 10m inside the Bath half.
Bath made the extra man count immediately with a well-worked try. Banahan cut in from the left and popped a pass outside to Watson who was looping round for a free run behind the posts. Ford’s conversion gave Bath a 27-21 lead with eight minutes left.
Bath also ended the game with 14 men. Referee JP Doyle finally lost patience after a series of penalties at scrum time and yellow-carded their replacement prop Beno Obano.
Tigers had an attacking opportunity from the lineout on the Bath 22, but Harry Thacker, on as a replacement was isolated and conceded the holding-on penalty.
Instead, Bath were able to run down the clock to secure their win.
