Opening try: Matt Smith scores for Tigers
Related links
Teams
Also see
Leicester needed a late Horacio Agulla try to sneak past Northampton 30-25 in a thrilling Aviva Premiership clash at Welford Road on Saturday.
Leicester came out on top in a feisty East Midlands derby to record their first Premiership home win of the season .
Northampton made an encouraging start but, after settling for a Ryan Lamb penalty, it wasn't long before Leicester worked their way back into the game and regained parity through Toby Flood.
Things really heated up after 13 minutes though when Chris Ashton dragged Alessana Tuilagi into touch by his hair, sparking a mass brawl. Tuilagi received a straight red card for his reaction, seemingly a much lesser offence than his younger brother's on the same man in the same fixture at the end of last season when a yellow card was the punishment.
Northampton flanker and reported England captaincy candidate Tom Wood was also sent off though for his part in the melee, making it 14-a-side for the remainder of the match, and the Saints found it difficult to adjust a man light in the back row.
Ashton escaped the incident unscathed but was made to suffer moments later when Matt Smith ran straight through him, carrying him over the try-line before touching the ball down as close to the corner as possible for one of the finishes of the season so far.
The Leicester pack gradually began to dominate more and more and, after an attacking line-out, Steve Mafi powered through some half-hearted Northampton tackling to score the second try of the game.
Lamb did reduce the deficit slightly for the Saints but they found themselves 15-6 down after an action-packed first half.
Flood edged the Tigers further ahead just two minutes into the second period but Northampton, inspired by Jim Mallinder's team talk, responded immediately. After sucking Leicester's defence into the middle of the field, the ball was spun wide to the left wing for Ashton to apply the finish.
Ben Youngs scored the home side's third try in the 60th minute after a handling error and lack of concentration from the Saints' pack but again Northampton's reply was swift.
Two tries in the space of three minutes gave them a 25-23 lead in what was turning into another classic East Midlands derby. Veteran centre Tom May's score was followed by one from Phil Dowson after Ashton had expertly kept the ball in play out wide.
Further drama was yet to come though as, with less than five minutes remaining, Leicester attacked from deep inside their own twenty-two and created an overlap for Horacio Agulla to surge down the left wing to score and secure a first home Premiership win of the season.
The scorers:
For Leicester:
Tries: Smith, Mafi, Youngs, Agulla
Cons: Flood 2
Pens: Flood 2
For Northampton:
Tries: Ashton, May, Dowson
Cons: Myler 2
Pens: Lamb 2
Red cards: A. Tuilagi (Leicester - 13th min) ; Wood (Northampton - 13th min)
Leicester: 15 Geordan Murphy (capt), 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Steve Mafi, 5 George Skivington, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 George Chuter, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Ed Slater, 20 Ben Woods, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Jeremy Staunton, 23 Scott Hamilton.
Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 George Pisi, 12 Tom May, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Mark Sorenson, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Dylan Hartley (capt), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Samu Manoa, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Jon Clarke.
Venue: Welford Road
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Comments
papachinzo says...
It was like watching school children fighting, awful match. Miles below international standard. Northampton need a serious lesson in discipline.
Posted 16:48 03rd December 2011
Jediboy says...
I said a little while ago that if Ashton isn't careful he will fall out of favour. I'm a Saints fan and always regarded Ashton highly.
However I'm starting to find him too flashy, irritating, self centred and not good enough for the team. He can't just rely on his tries, there's more to rugby than that.
In the Scarlets game a few weeks ago he had a shocker - knocked the ball on in attack and just gave up. The result was that Scarlets scored a try.
I have heard talk that he may be off to Saracens, and if he went I wouldn't be disappointed. He is slowly dragging himself from hero to zero in my eyes.
Posted 16:46 03rd December 2011
crunchfit says...
Brilliant game. Very happy I watched this instead of the Wales Australia match.
Some players were very lucky to be on the pitch. I saw 3 Leicester (Tuilagi 1, Agulla 1, Murphy 2) players throw punches and 2 Northampton (Lawes 1, Woods 2) players. Murphy was very lucky to stay on the field. Tuilagi didn't really connect and Agulla's looked more like a lazy slap. Woods and Murphy were the worst offenders though. I found it funny how Murphy started pulling people away from the fight to hide what he'd done and spoke to the referee after as if he wasn't involved.
Also, Ayerza was lucky not to be carded for spear tackling Dowson just before Mafi scored. He picked the player up, turned him and drove him into the ground. Couldn't really see how Dowson reacted as the camera moved off him very quickly. Red card offense.
And Lawes. Brilliant. The guy is pure class. I'd consider him the best tackler in the game right now. The hits he puts in are fantastic and he is so mobile. 1st choice for the lions in my opinion.
Posted 16:39 03rd December 2011
crunchfit says...
Ashton is a joke. Terrible defender with a bad attitude.
His attack is OK, but all his good attacking is undone by his terrible defense. The tackle on Smith was terrible. If he had gone for his legs, or just slipped down off his shoulders and grabbed his legs, that would not have been a try. And when Smith scored the try at the end of the game, he had an open run down Ashton's wing. Ashton was so busy trying to attack up the middle, off his wing, he forgot / was unable to make it back do his wing and do his defensive duties and save that try. He may have scored a try and set one up, but when you let in two tries, it's not really that's what I'd call a poor performance. If those tries weren't scored, Northampton would have won the game. Also, against the Scarlets, because of Ashton caused two tries to be scored against Northampton. If Ashton didn't let those tries in, Northampton would have won. That's two games in three weeks that have been lost because of Ashton.
Dragging Tuilagi by his hair was pathetic. No need for that. I think he was afraid to go drag him out properly. Also, in the 54th minute, Ashton backed out of a tackle on Salvi. He seemed afraid to make the hit. Ashton is good at making big hits on static / unready players, but when it comes to taking a big hit, he backs out.
Also, when Ashton set up that try where he chipped through and kicked it on again, he starts leaping, punching the air and shouting at the Leicester defenders on the ground. Pathetic. Particularly pathetic as Ashton's actions cost his team the game. For the second time. Can't stand this player.
Posted 16:27 03rd December 2011