Toomua inspires Tigers win over Quins, Worcester beat Gloucester
Stand-in fly-half Matt Toomua produced a masterful performance as Leicester Tigers boosted their top-four bid with a 33-18 win over Harlequins, while Worcester Warriors struck a blow to Gloucester's semi-final hopes.
The versatile Toomua was outstanding in his first Tigers start at number 10, pulling the strings and scoring 23 points to leave his side five points behind fourth-placed Gloucester.
Matt O'Connor's side and Quins both really needed a win at Welford Road and it was Leicester who raised their game in the second half to get back on track, having only won once in the league since November prior to this victory.
Alofa Alofa raced away for an early try to put Quins in front, but three Toomua penalties and one from Marcus Smith made it 9-8 to the Tigers at the interval.
Luke Wallace edged the London side back into the lead with Smith in the sin bin, but the magnificent Toomua spotted a gap and darted away for a five-pointer before setting another up for Graham Kitchener with a superb kick.
Charlie Matthews' score 11 minutes from time gave Quins hope, but Toomua nailed a fourth penalty and also converted a last-gasp Adam Thomstone try as the Tigers claimed a much-needed win.
Worcester, meanwhile, followed up their win over champions Exeter Chiefs with a 25-15 success against Gloucester at Sixways.
Elsewhere, Northampton Saints pushed London Irish closer to relegation with a 25-17 home comeback win.
George North, Rob Horne and Mike Haywood crossed in the space of seven minutes after Alex Lewington's double had given the Exiles a 14-0 lead they could not keep.
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I’d say France was far more hard done by in the 2011 final than the All Blacks in this game. Joubert simply refused to call a penalty against the All Blacks in the last quarter even directing an All Black to drop a ball he picked up in an offside position rather than penalizing him. This article also totally discounts the efforts of PSTD. Ask Jordie how well he played. Or the backup flank who played hooker for the entire game. Siya was also a brilliant tackle by Richie from scoring a blinder. Pollard was also fantastic. Look I don’t like the boks style but the only thing more questionable than the content of this article is the timing of it. Get over it already
Go to commentsDad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
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