3 weeks ago
33
Gallagher Premiership
Leicester (15) 22
Tries: Steward, Liebenberg 2 Cons: Pollard 2 Drop-goals: Pollard
Saracens (17) 29
Tries: George, Gonzalez, Hall, Dan Cons: Lozowski 2, Burke Drop-goals: Lozowski
Teenager Angus Hall scored an eye-catching try on his first Premiership start as Saracens reignited their top-four hopes with a hard-fought win at Leicester Tigers.
The 19-year-old collected Elliot Daly's pass and sped clear to finish in the corner after Saracens had fallen behind for the first time in the match.
Jamie George and Juan Martin Gonzalez gave the visitors a 14-point lead before the Tigers fought back to lead through Freddie Steward and a Hanro Liebenberg double either side of half-time.
But Hall's effort pulled Saracens level and replacement Theo Dan scored the decisive try from a Leicester line-out, with Cameron Henderson's effort for the Tigers controversially ruled out for offside.
Saracens' bonus-point win lifts them to sixth in the table, two points behind Leicester in third.
Sarries, who started with a quartet of England players in an effort to boost their play-off chances, suffered an early setback as prop forward Fraser Balmain was carried off injured in the opening minute.
But it did not disrupt the visitors' rhythm as they quickly opened a 14-point lead, moving the ball back and forth across the pitch inside Leicester's 22 before George eventually burst over the line.
George and Theo McFarland then made inroads on the right and Saracens brought the ball back infield for Gonzalez to scoot through a sizeable gap in the Tigers' defence, with Alex Lozowski adding the extras on both occasions.
A try-saving tackle by Tom Willis denied Solomone Kata soon afterwards, but a wave of Tigers pressure finally paid off as Ollie Hassell-Collins set up Steward, who broke clear to score under the posts.
After Handre Pollard and Lozowski had traded drop-goals, it was Leicester who finished the first half in the ascendancy after Liebenberg squeezed over to reduce the gap to two points at the turnaround.
That momentum spilled into the second half as the Tigers turned the ball over deep in opposition territory and Liebenberg took advantage, going over for his second try to put the home side ahead for the first time.
The lead was short-lived, however, with quick hands from Saracens enabling Daly to release Hall and the youngster displayed good technique to hold off Adam Radwan's challenge and dot down just inside the corner flag.
Saracens were hit by another injury blow when Lozowski was forced off on the hour - but again they responded by scoring, with Maro Itoje doing enough to disrupt the line-out so that Julian Montoya's throw sailed through for Dan to collect and finish.
The home crowd thought their side had levelled again immediately as Henderson charged down Ivan van Zyl's kick from the scrum and scampered over - but referee Luke Pearce adjudged the Leicester lock offside and chalked off the try after a video replay.
Leicester Tigers head coach Michael Cheika told BBC Radio Leicester:
"We came out of the blocks slowly, then we got ourselves together but we knew it'd be a battle to the end. I think from the ruck in particular it was quite slow, we didn't really get the flow in attack we would have liked.
"First half, some of our close-quarter tackling wasn't as good as it could be. Second half we tidied up that defensive bit, but we weren't able to adjust to go and take some field position and get back in the game.
"I thought overall the line-out played out pretty well, but the play where we gave away the try – those are the close-quarter actions you've got to be mindful of winning in order to beat a team like Saracens.
"We've still got our destiny in our own hands, and for all teams other than Bath, the run home's going to be pretty rough and rugged. We missed an opportunity today but we'll be ready for the next one when it comes."
Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya, Heyes, Henderson, Wells, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.
Replacements: Clare, Whitcombe, Cole, Joussain, Ilione, Youngs, Shillcock, Perese.
Saracens: Daly; Elliott, Lozowski, Tompkins, Hall; Burke, Van Zyl; Mawi, George, Balmain, Itoje, Tizard, McFarland, Gonzalez, Willis.
Replacements: Dan, Carre, Riccioni, Isiekwe, Onyeama-Christie, Earl, Simpson, Goode.
Referee: Luke Pearce
