Happy days: Steve Mafi and Manu Tuilagi celebrate
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Leicester Tigers came from behind to beat Harlequins 43-33 in a thrilling clash at the Stoop on Saturday.
Leicester's form looks ominous for the other play-off contenders as they saw off the leaders to move into second place in the standings.
The game didn't take long to get warmed up as both sides sought to lay down a marker ahead of the end of season play-offs and it was the Tigers who struck first as they turned down a potential three point opportunity and Thomas Waldrom rumbled over from the resulting line-out to open the scoring.
But, after Nick Evans had replied with two penalties to Toby Flood's one, Ugo Monye telegraphed a poor Flood pass inside his own half and raced away to score under the posts and give Quins the lead for the first time.
And with the home side on top, Manu Tuilagi was sent to the sin bin for tackling his opposite number George Lowe without the ball, allowing Evans the chance to add another three points to the total.
Harlequins made even more of their one-man advantage moments later as Nick Easter picked the ball up from the base of the scrum and smashed straight through Tom Croft on his way to the line, injuring the England man in the process.
Flood and Evans again exchanged penalties and, back up to their full complement, Leicester had the final say of the half as Steve Mafi, on as a replacement for the injured Croft, went over. The Australian-born forward picked the ball up and smashed straight through some poor defending on the fringes of a ruck.
And Flood added the conversion and a penalty with the final kick of the half to narrow the deficit to just three points at 26-23 at the break.
Flood levelled the scores early in the second half but no sooner had he done so than Lowe catapulted Quins back into the lead.
Evans created the try with a deft grubber kick that bounced perfectly into the centre's hands but both have their forwards to thank after they won a scrum against the head to provide the opportunity.
The Tigers came back again though as some incessant pressure and good breaks from Anthony Allen and Flood created an overlap which Alesana Tuilagi finished with aplomb to level the scores once more.
And Leicester's now customary late charge was completed ten minutes from time as Waldrom grabbed his second try of the game after a great break from Allen down the left and good work from Flood gave him the chance.
Flood added a late penalty to secure the win for the Premiership's form team and deny the leaders a bonus point.
Tigers now move ahead of Saracens in the table, making them favourites to claim a home semi-final.
The scorers:
For Harlequins:
Tries: Monye, Easter, Lowe
Cons: Evans 3
Pens: Evans 4
For Leicester:
Tries: Waldrom 2, Mafi, AT Tuilagi
Cons: Flood 4
Pens: Flood 5
Yellow cards: M. Tuilagi (Leicester - 21st min)
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Ugo Monye, 13 George Lowe, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Sam Smith, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 5 George Robson, 4 Olly Kohn, 3 James Johnston, 2 Rob Buchanan, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Aston Croall, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Tomas Vallejos, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Ross Chisholm.
Leicester: 15 Geordan Murphy (capt), 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 George Skivington, 3 Dan Cole, 2 George Chuter, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Graham Kitchener, 20 Steve Mafi, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Scott Hamilton.
Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Comments
lawynd says...
Would anybody else like to hazard a guess as to what on earth Rugbynut(case) is on about?
Posted 20:21 25th April 2012
Rugbynut says...
nabberuk should look at the recording of the game, then he would understand! Refs only penalise defending sides which cheat and Leicester know this and probably train for this.
Posted 22:26 23rd April 2012
nabberuk says...
@Rugbynut
eh, Leicester cheating? What are you on about? Or you just using that tired old argument?
Easter should of been binned for tackling a player without the ball just like Manu. Quins were holding onto tackled players for far too long.
Posted 21:07 22nd April 2012
Rugbynut says...
Great game spoiled by Barnes trying to make a point after being dropped from the international ref panel. Leicester wanted it more at the end so I suppose they won the mental game but they also won the battle of the subtle cheating. About time refs got on top of this.
Hayj05, you need to grow up! Recognise Super 15 for what it is, Murdoch controlling our game for his own profit. Super 15 has become big guys running around like headless chicken. Where is the subtlety and guile, the strategy?
Posted 13:11 22nd April 2012
lawynd says...
I never understand these sorts of arguments. Why can't we simply enjoy both competitions; S15 has produced some cracking games this season, as well as some that would compare to Newcastle - Saracens for dullest of the season. It's just different, and if you can't embrace that difference then you're not really a rugby fan.
Posted 12:20 22nd April 2012
nabberuk says...
Well done guys, great game of rugby and you turn it into a sh/nh argument.
Posted 10:28 22nd April 2012
NHsaints says...
Well this is going to be an interesting premiership knockout group especially if exeter edge Northampton. However I think we've seen here that unless Sarries and/or Quins don't improve their games then Leicester are heading for another title.
Posted 10:04 22nd April 2012
davodiablo says...
@Lisson17.... funny that...... all of Leicesters trys and all of Quins kicks were scored by SH players.
Posted 09:44 22nd April 2012
TVaddict says...
@hayj05
Obviously the top teams in super rugby have a good defence, but when I watch any team from like 5th or 6th team onwards it's like you can walk in trys against them. However, to be fair, they're still good at scoring them, whereas I feel the opposite it true in the premiership.
At the moment, just from what I've seen, I feel Leinster are probably the best club team in the world at the moment.But I'd love to see Heineken cup winner vs super 15 winner. Would be epic!
Posted 08:48 22nd April 2012
Jediboy says...
I too watch super 15 - it's fast and exciting. But if there was a super 15 match and prem match on at the same time, I'd always watch the prem match. But I am from uthe NH so I guess that makes sense.
Interesting though that the top try scorer so far in super 15 is a prop. A front row forward. What does that say about the style of play in super 15??
Just a thought.
Posted 08:38 22nd April 2012
Jediboy says...
What a great game this was. And tigers are showing why they've got such a rich history. Very strong snd efficient. Can't see them losing the playoffs at the moment.
Posted 08:35 22nd April 2012
kybone says...
hayj05 The thing with S15 is, yes there are more tries and more clean breaks, but in a league with no relegation and only the title to play for its easy to throw caution to the wind. A point that you made yourself was that each of the 3 nations involved only has 5 teams taking part meaning that the elite talent pool is spread over less than half the teams that Englands is and just over a third of the teams that France has. My final point is that, although i haven't seen much S15 rugby this season, i keep an eye on it and i can say without doubt that there have been some real dogs of games this season! In fact there was an article on this site about the negative play in both the Oz and SA conferences, saying that only the Kiwi teams are trying to play any rugby.
Posted 08:27 22nd April 2012
hayj05 says...
I better add on that I do think NH sides can play good rugby I've seen it before but I just can't stand the NH fans telling us that Super Rugby is not real rugby, poor defence etc when for the most part it is a better quality & spectacle. I honestly think that the top 2 or 3 Super Rugby teams each year would have the ability to beat every NH test side & I do think it's about time we had a world club championship game.
Posted 02:37 22nd April 2012
hayj05 says...
Haha you are the douches that always go on about poor defense in the Super 15, Isn't it's obvious? It's just superior attack. That's why you see the SH sides regularly putting big scores on NH sides. So does that mean I get to label the NH test sides as having poor defense?
Tell me what Rugby is going to be of higher quality? Consistantly the best 3 nations in the world split into 5 teams featuring nearly all the current test player of those sides. OR is it the NH, that consistantly get beaten by the SH sides, that are sometimes split into 12-14 sides in the case of the 2 'big 5' nations, that feature a fair chunk of SH players that were either never good enough, are not good enough anymore, or are just looking for money.
Posted 01:31 22nd April 2012
TVaddict says...
@lisson17, @capedcrusader
To be fair, the premiership is far more focused on defence, and super 15 far more focused on attack. I feel the top 3 or 4 from either division would have a good competitive game, with probably the super 15 teams doing slightly better at the moment. I do feel however, that the bottom 3 or 4 teams of super 15 would be utterly squashed by the bottom 3 or 4 teams of the premiership.
I feel this is the premiership's strength, that teams have to competitive. Without the relegation we wouldn't have a team like Exeter push through to what will probably be heineken cup qualification. However, that does mean our player have a far more physical domestic season.
You hear it all the time, super 15 player come into premiership and say that it's a lot slower, but a lot more physical. I doubt a lot of super 15 player could 'hack it' in the premiership, but then probably a lot of premiership players wouldn't have the running/mental stamina for super 15.
Posted 23:10 21st April 2012
stumpy says...
As a fan of both, I think NH and SH rugby have their own merits. SH rugby obviously has a faster pace and is a more exciting brand of rugby. NH rugby though, collects alot of stars from all over the world which makes it interesting, as well as boasting more tension with their brand of rugby (E.G- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFJ65Og3A2o)
Posted 22:16 21st April 2012
lisson17 says...
@capedcrusader Oh wow, I'm sorry, I didn't realise having a crap defence was something you were proud of in the 'Super' 15?
Seeing as how you obviously know your Premiership rugby so well, I can see how you'd know that 9-3 is the average scoreline...oh, hang on. I watch this week-in week-out and no it isn't!
It's nice that you have such a superior attitude, and it must make you a wonderful person. How about YOU do some research before calling me the fool eh?
The 'Super' 15 fans bang on and on about the superior quality of their rugby. Yes, some of it's good. In the same way that some of the Prem is good and some of the Rabo is good. Get over yourself eh?
Posted 21:01 21st April 2012
TVaddict says...
Brilliant play from both sides. As a neutral I was almost hoping for a draw, as both deserved to win today!
This game showed why teams like Quins and Tigers are popular to other teams fans, rather than a team like Saracens.
Posted 20:12 21st April 2012
capedcrusader says...
@lisson17
lol an exciting games doesn't mean consistently good rugby u fool. You didn't think much about that sentence before venting ur frustration on a completely different style of footy did u.... 9 x 3 doesn't sound that epic to me either
Posted 19:17 21st April 2012
jontheref says...
I saw this at the gym, made me consider Sky sports for next season.
A great game.
Posted 18:15 21st April 2012