Leicester Tigers bounced back from their defeat to Harlequins with a 30-8 victory over Exeter at Welford Road on Saturday.
Adam Thompstone claimed a hat-rick of tries on his first start for the club as the Tigers mauled the Chiefs.
Ignacio Mieres did get the visitors on the scoreboard early on with a penalty from in front of the posts but it wasn't long before the Leicester pack began to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
The Tigers' forwards were dominant in the scrum, at the lineout and in the loose in the first half but it was the backs who provided the cutting edge for the only try of the opening period.
A strong run from Fijian winger Vereniki Goneva laid the foundations for Toby Flood to spin the ball wide and Thompstone dived over in the right-hand corner to score his first try for the club.
Flood added the conversion and three penalties as the half wore on, with the Chiefs guilty of giving away a succession of penalties as they were forced onto the back foot, and Leicester took a 16-3 lead into the interval.
The Tigers were in no mood to relent in the second half either and the former London Irish winger Thompstone grabbed his second try of the match five minutes after the restart.
Mieres fumbled the ball on his own try-line after a poor pass from Haydn Thomas and Flood flicked the ball up to Matt Smith with his boot, allowing the centre to release Dan Bowden and then Thompstone to stroll over untouched.
The pressure being exerted by the hosts was almost incessant and, after Logovi'i Mulipola butchered a fantastic opportunity in the left-hand corner, a third try duly arrived with just under quarter of an hour left to play.
Flood released Smith again on the right-hand side and the 26-year-old's grubber kick through the defensive line was perfectly weighted for Thompstone to race onto and complete his hat-trick.
Leicester were unable to find the bonus point try that their domination arguably deserved and Exeter even snatched a consolation try with the last play of the game as replacement Ben White dived over from short range.
There was never any doubt about the result though as the Tigers bounced back from their defeat to champions Harlequins last week to inflict the Chiefs' third defeat of the season in comprehensive fashion.
The scorers:
For Leicester:
Tries: Thompstone 3
Cons: Flood 3
Pens: Flood 3
For Exeter:
Tries: White
Pen: Mieres
Leicester: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Niall Morris, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Dan Bowden, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Jordan Crane (c), 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Dan Cole, 2 George Chuter, 1 Logovi'i Mulipola.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Ed Slater, 20 Brett Deacon, 21 Patrick Phibbs, 22 George Ford, 23 Adam Thompstone.
Exeter: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Ian Whitten, 13 Sireli Naqelevuki, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 James Hanks, 4 Tom Hayes (c), 3 Carl Rimmer, 2 Chris Whitehead, 1 Brett Sturgess.
Replacements: 16 Simon Alcott, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Chris Budgen, 19 Aly Muldowney, 20 Ben White, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Phil Dollman.
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Comments
physiodan says...
The TMO vs Thompstones second try. hmmm now that was a tough one. Should it have been dissalowed, should it be a try. I am sure all thos against Tiges will be up in arms about it saying "same old Tigers, always cheating". As a Tigers fan I am struggling with this try. I'm not sure it should have been given as it was a comedy of errors. The build up at the set piece was a mess and could have gone either way and then Mieres knocks on, advantage Tigers. Waldrom then runs towards the ball but is pulled back by Baxter, Penalty advantage Tigers. Waldrom then Tackles Mieres who no longer has the ball, end of Tigers Advantage - penalty. This is where rugby has its weird and wonderful rules. If a player knocks the ball in the air with their hands, thus no longer having physical control or contact, they are still deemed to be the ball carrier. Has Mieres been deemed as the ball carrier still and Waldrom knows the rules better than us and therefore made a legal tackle? I dont know.
What I do know is thats Floods moment of briliance following this comedy of errors deserved a try.
What ever the result the advantage was still with Tigers an it was given as 7 points rather than a simple 3.
Exeter were far from on fire yesterday but they never made Tigers comfortable during the game. They will made other teams sweat this year and I thin they have to look at this game as a turning point. Good luck next week and in Europe and for the rest of the season bar March 23rd.
Posted 13:02 30th September 2012
kybone says...
Adam Thompstone scores hat-trick on first Tigers start- despite the fact that, according to the squad lists at the bottom of the match report, he was named among the replacemnets!
Posted 17:20 29th September 2012
melkdave says...
Well the most pleasing thing about this Tigers performance ,was how good T.Flood played ,and the rest of the England contingent on both sides..Only saw the 1st half because of the international match,but the omens where very good for the Tigers .Also think Johnson played extemly well ,and looks to have sucured the 6 berth for England imo.,though C.Lawes looked impressive yesterday at 6.Options options for SL and co cant be bad lol.
Posted 16:57 29th September 2012