Tigers floor Saracens, key win for London Irish

Leicester shocked Saracens 28-20 while London Irish claimed an important 22-9 win over Worcester in the Premiership on Sunday.

London Irish 22-9 Worcester Warriors

London Irish picked up only their second win of the Premiership season as they beat closest relegation rivals Worcester 22-9 on Sunday.

This result at the Madejski Stadium moves the Exiles 12 points behind the Warriors, but their escape from the trapdoor remains unlikely.

Just one try was scored in the tense game as the boot of Greig Tonks proved vital to London Irish as he slotted five penalties in total.

Tonks’ first came in the seventh minute before he doubled up in the 19th, both coming after centre Chris Pennell had opened the scoring.

London Irish would then cross through Piet van Zyl on 27 minutes after he collected his own chip for a try that was converted by Tonks.

And despite a penalty either side of the break from Pennell, Tonks made sure Irish would pick up a much-needed four points at home.

The scorers:

For London Irish:
Try: Van Zyl
Con: Tonks
Pens: Tonks 5
Yellow Card: Paulo

For Worcester:
Pens: Pennell 3

London Irish: 15 James Marshall, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Tom Fowlie, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Conor Gilsenan, 6 Arno Botha, 5 Teofilo Paulo, 4 Franco van der Merwe (c), 3 Ollie Hoskins, 2 David Paice, 1 Ben Franks
Replacements: 16 Dave Porecki, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Petrus Du Plessis, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Jake Schatz, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Aseli Tikoirotuma

Worcester Warriors: 15 Josh Adams, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Chris Pennell, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Dean Hammond, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Alafoti Faosiliva, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (c), 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Kurt Haupt, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Anton Bresler, 20 Will Spencer, 21 Matt Cox, 22 Jonny Arr, 23 Tom Howe

Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Anthony Woodthorpe
TMO: David Grashoff

Saracens 20-28 Leicester Tigers

Leicester Tigers picked up a deserved 28-20 victory over an out-of-sorts Saracens in their Premiership clash at Allianz Park on Sunday.

Leicester enjoyed a dream first period as they went in 21-6 to the good after scoring three tries, leaving Saracens struggling for answers.

Their first came after 10 minutes and it was Manu Tuilagi who got it, breaking from the fringe of the ruck for a walkover that made it 7-0.

Tigers fly-half Matt Toomua missed a chance to make it 10-0 soon after but Saracens scrum-half Ben Spencer made no mistake for 7-3.

But again weak fringe defence from Saracens led to Tigers’ second try, this time Greg Bateman racing in for 14-3 with 33 minutes played.

Spencer cut the gap to eight points two minutes before the break but Leicester weren’t done, Telusa Veainu evading tackles for a key try.

Saracens had it all to do in the second 40 and wing Nathan Earle failing to ground over the line and then dropping one before the whitewash one minute later summed up their afternoon. It looked like Leicester were now nailed on for a victory as Sarries were blowing opportunities.

Salt was rubbed into their wounds too when loose ball was gathered by Tuilagi, who handed to Jonah Holmes for a try that made it 28-6.

And despite a try double from impressive replacement fly-half Max Malins, both via slalom runs, amid a strong finish from Sarries, they finished outside losing bonus-point territory on a dismal day for Mark McCall’s charges.

The scorers:

For Saracens:
Tries: Malins 2
Cons: Lozowski 2
Pens: Spencer 2

For Leicester:
Tries: Tuilagi, Bateman, Veainu, Holmes
Cons: Toomua 4
Yellow Card: Rizzo

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Alex Lozowski, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Calum Clark, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Dominic Day, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Richard Barrington
Replacements: 16 Scott Spurling, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Mark Flanagan, 20 Sione Vailanu, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Max Malins, 23 Rotimi Segun

Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Gareth Owen, 11 Jonah Holmes, 10 Matt Toomua (c), 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Mike Fitzgerald, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Greg Bateman
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Harry Simmons, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mathew Tait

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Adam Leal, Peter Allan
TMO: Sean Davey