In the end there was a relatively clear winner of this straight shootout for top spot in the Prem. Leicester took the spoils in an error-strewn contest between two sides who began the night in second and third position, scoring four tries to one and being masterfully steered to a bonus point victory by their alert fly-half Billy Searle.
Following on from their commanding second-half display in the wet at home to Northampton, the Tigers were far from perfect but had the game’s outstanding player in Searle, whose left boot set up three of his side’s tries in addition to landing two conversions. Bristol, reduced to 13 players in the second quarter by a brace of yellow cards, had their moments but ultimately coughed up possession far too often.
The game’s stylistic highlight was a quite brilliant sixth-minute solo try by Louis Rees-Zammit, back to his sharpest on the wing for the Bears, but it takes more than the occasional flash of talent to tame the Tigers. In Adam Radwan they had their own high-speed danger man, with the former Newcastle wing and full-back Freddie Steward both registering first-half tries.
Of the England international contingent on view, though, the most eye-catching was Ellis Genge who was a handful in all areas during his 63 minutes, only for the visitors to ruin the prop’s night with a bonus point try from Jamie Blamire within moments of his departure. Modern-day Leicester are not yet an irresistible force but they still have the ability to grind out crucial results. “That was a good gritty win,” stressed Geoff Parling, Leicester’s head coach. “I’m really proud of the team … we’re really pleased with the spot we’re in.”
There was something of a throwback feel to the whole evening, with Bristol’s players wearing old-school letters in tribute to the club legends of yesteryear. Leicester were invited to do the same until league officials stepped in and deemed it too confusing. The Tigers’ rugby alphabet used to run the other way, with ABC denoting the front row rather than the outside backs, and asking them to abandon that tradition was borderline heresy.
There was a timeless beauty, either way, to Rees-Zammit’s early score. The England tighthead Joe Heyes – entertainingly listed on the teamsheet as ‘Joy Heyes’ – was minding his own business in midfield when the Welsh wing accelerated past him from a standing start before slaloming all the way to the line.
Leicester’s response was clinical in a different way, Searle’s cross-kick finding an unmarked Steward who dived over to mark his 100th Prem start in style. The visitors also had a close-range ‘try’ by Chessum scrubbed out for an earlier knock-on but, for a good while, there was little to separate the teams.
If Leicester had a slight edge at the scrums the Bears were the more fluent attacking team and Rees-Zammit came close to adding another stunner to his collection,only for his deft chip ahead to elude his grasp. The momentum soon shifted significantly, though, courtesy of two quickfire yellow cards in three minutes for Matías Moroni and Tom Jordan for misjudged tackles.
With a two-man advantage Leicester duly went ahead courtesy of another smart kick by Searle, drilled perfectly in behind the cover for the electric Radwan to outpace the cover and slide over. The half-time score of 12-7, even so, still gave the Bears some wriggle room in the closing 40 minutes.
The omens did not look great when the Tigers scored again, Searle’s precise boot this time finding Ollie Hassell-Collins in acres of space on the left. But a penalty from Jimmy Williams provided some breathing space and, now restored to 15 players, a massive penalty for the hosts’ scrum altered the mood again.
Blamire’s maul score, however, finally settled things, Searle again having an input with a raking kick to the corner. At a time when England’s fly-half pecking order is once again in the spotlight, here was another reminder of his match-winning qualities.
On a night full of frustrating moments for both sides, his contribution was even more striking. Bristol huffed and puffed but chances came and went and the steady boot of Williams was ultimately not enough. While Leicester are now top dogs going into the weekend they will need to perform better than this to remain ahead of the chasing pack through the upcoming winter.
