Leicester Tigers kicked off the 25/26 PREM Next Gen academy U18 league with a 38-31 win over Sale Sharks.
A dominant first-half display, including four tries to the Tigers, saw them lead by 17 points at halftime before having to hold on against a fast-finishing Sharks side to register the Round 1 victory.
It took just two minutes for the first points of the season to be registered when wing Christian Gordon-Astbury crossed for the opener. Fly-half Matthew Clatworthy converted the try to make it 7-0.
Two more tries for ‘The Cubs’ in quick succession, the first to blindside flanker Fin Charles and the second to scrum-half James Alcock, extend the lead out to 17-0 after only 14 minutes at Loughborough University.
Sale got on the board, through Cieran Milligan, on the 20-minute mark, and the fly-half converted his own try to cut the deficit to 10 points, 17-7.
However, Tigers hit back almost immediately when wing Abdul Bah-Bah got over just two minutes later, and Clatworthy converted the try, to make it 24-7.
The scoreboard attendant had a busy finish to the first half with the Sharks getting a second, to outside centre Christian Smith, which was converted by my Milligan, to make it a ten-point game, 24-14.
But, Leicester struck again right before the break with a second for Alcock, and fullback Nathaniel Robinson added the extras to make it 31-14 at half-time.
Alcock had his hat-trick shortly after the teams returned to the field for the second half, crossing in the 44th minute and replacement back Will Loveday extended the lead to 24 points, 38-14, with a successful conversion attempt.
Sale added three tries in 15 minutes, and one successful conversion from Milligan, to make it a seven-point game, 38-31, and a nervous final ten minutes for the Tigers, who managed to hold on in a brave defensive effort and claim victory.
TIGERS XV: 15 NATHANIEL ROBINSON, 14 ABDUL BAH-BAH, 13 OLLIE MYALL (vc), 12 JOE HENSTOCK, 11 CHRISTIAN GORDON-ASTBURY, 10 MATTHEW CLATWORTHY, 9 JAMES ALCOCK; 1 KAJETAN LEWANDOWSKI, 2 ALEX CATCHESIDE, 3 JOE EDMUNDS, 4 MACKINLEY JONES, 5 ETHAN HARRISON, 6 FIN CHARLES, 7 DYLAN CHESSUM (c), 8 OLIVER ROBINSON
REPLACEMENTS: 16 TOM COURT, 17 ____, 18 CHARLES KINSON, 19 CHARILE LLYOD, 20 LWAZI NXARA, 21 MORGAN BEESE, 22 WILL LOVEDAY, 23 HARRISON BROOKS
UNDER-17s: LEICESTER TIGERS v SALE SHARKS
The clubs also met in a U17 fixture at Loughborough University, which the Sharks won 12-26.
Sale got across the chalk for their first try in the seventh minute and didn’t look back, leading for the rest of the game.
The first try, to Henry Bates, was converted by Tom Gaffey, to make it 0-7, before Leicester lock Otto Stone scored to make it 5-7 after ten minutes.
It was more than twenty minutes before the next points, when Sharks hooker Ben Rosenthal got over and Gaffey converted, to take a nine-point lead, 5-14, into the break.
Tigers centre Josh Ford scored soon after half-time, and fullback Pat McManus Shoebridge converted the try, to cut the deficit to two points, 12-14.
Two late tries to Sale replacement Tom Males, with one converted by Gaffey, meant the visitors came away from the Midlands with a 14-point, 12-26 win.
TIGERS XV: 15 PAT MCMANUS SHOEBRIDGE, 14 OLIVER HUTCHINSON, 13 GEORGE ALCOCK, 12 JOSH FORD, 11 SAM MCGUFFIN, 10 RAHM BUTTERWORTH, 9 MORGAN BEESE; 1 JOE WOOD 2 OLIVER BLINKHORN, 3 BAILEY SAUNDERS, 4 TOM STUART JONES, 5 OTTO STONE, 6 IVAN BOYD, 7 LWAZI NXARA, 8 ETHAN RIX
REPLACEMENTS: 16 IVAN KRUTKOV, 17 WILL COEN, 18 HARIZ NJIE, 19 DOMINIC CHANDLER, 20 TOM MAHONY, 21 TOM RATLEDGE, 22 GEORGE DAVIS, 23 BEN MCMAHON, 24 ZANE NEOL, 25 SAM WOOD
