Leicester end search for first Premiership away win of the season

Leicester moved up to sixth place in the Gallagher Premiership table with their first win at Gloucester since September 2016. The 20-14 success was the Tigers’ first away win in the league this season, with their only other success on the road coming at Bayonne in the European Challenge Cup.

In a titanic forward battle, the visitors shaded the honours and were rewarded with three close-range tries from Tom Youngs, Dan Kelly and Harry Wells. Zack Henry kicked a penalty and a conversion.

After two morale boosting wins over Worcester and Wasps, Gloucester, who were without the suspended Ollie Thorley, could not follow it up with a third and had to be content with a bonus point. Their tries came from Santiago Carreras and Ed Slater, with George Barton adding two conversions.

The opening stages were poor with both sides guilty of inaccurate kicking. Fly-halves Barton and Henry both lost valuable ground for their side by booting the ball straight over the touchline.

Playing with the wind, the visitors had the first chance for points but they twice opted for attacking lineouts instead of kicking for goal. It proved the wrong call as their pack was first held up over the line and then their three-quarters spilled the ball.

It was costly as Gloucester took the lead in the 18th minute when, after a succession of forward drives, Willi Heinz and Barton combined to provide Carreras with an easy run-in. Barton converted superbly from the touchline before Tigers responded when Youngs finished off a driving lineout.

Henry’s conversion brought the scores level before the hosts suffered an injury blow when prop Alex Seville was forced off for a head injury assessment. Gloucester soon received another setback by conceding a second try when the visitors’ backs joined a driving lineout for centre Kelly to force his way over.

Henry missed the conversion but knocked over a straightforward penalty to give his side a 15-7 interval lead. After the restart a break from Carreras put Gloucester on the front foot before a well-judged pass from Heinz saw Slater power over.

Despite changing their whole front row, Tigers responded with a sustained period of pressure and, following a break from Henry, Wells crashed over for his side’s third try. That score proved sufficient for Leicester to secure victory. Although their opponents exerted significant pressure in the final stages, they lacked the efficiency to turn a hard-fought game their way.