 Alex Tuilagi scored either side of half-time |
Leicester 28 (14)
Tries: A Tuilagi 2, Kay, penalty
Cons: Humphreys 4
Saracens 15 (8)
Tries: Yates, C Johnson
Con: Farrell
Pen: Farrell
Leicester wing Alesana Tuilagi scored two tries as the Tigers claimed a bonus-point win over Saracens.
The visitors, chasing their third straight league win, took the lead through prop Kevin Yates on 12 minutes.
But Tuilagi replied for Leicester on 24 minutes before lock Ben Kay crossed just before half-time.
Tuilagi added his second on 48 minutes and although Census Johnson scored for Saracens, a Tigers penalty try sealed victory for the home side.
The bonus point win means that the Tigers are now just one behind leaders Bristol.
But they had to come from behind after Yates squeezed over in the corner following a series of drives.
Tuilagi claimed his first score after Scott Bemand's inside pass allow Saracens centre Andy Farrell kicked over a penalty to put his side back in front.
Leicester though took hold of the game once again when Kay charged over from a rolling maul.
Tuilagi took advantage of a Saracens fumble to claim his second after the break to put the result beyond doubt although he was denied a hat-trick when referee Chris White ruled there had been a knock-on.
Johnson did give his side some hope on 53 minutes but after Yates was sin-binned, Leicester forced a penalty try after a succession of collapsed scrums.
Leicester head coach Pat Howard:
"We need to turn up on the big days. That's the big issue. "I was here in the heyday and we didn't always play brilliantly. We won games we shouldn't have won.
"We are getting ourselves in a position to get there."
Saracens rugby director Alan Gaffney:
"We played a very good first 40 minutes and I thought the first 10 minutes of the second half was the turning point, we didn't handle that particularly well. "Leicester only scored one try but we handed the game back to them. They played very well into the wind.
"It's a daunting challenge at Leicester, but we came up here with a lot of confidence.
"We had some reasonably good patches of rugby but we weren't consistent enough over the 80 minutes."
Leicester: G Murphy; A Tuilagi, Hipkiss, Cornwell, Varndell; Humphreys, Bemand; Ayerza, Buckland, White, Cullen, Kay, Abraham, Jennings, Crane.
Replacements: Castrogiovanni, Corry, T Croft, F Murphy, Goode, Rabeni, Moreno.
Saracens: Castaignede; Vaikona, Penney, Farrell, Haughton; Taylor, Dickens; Yates, Cairns, Johnson, Fullarton, Ryder, Vyvyan, Hill, Gustard.
Replacements: Ongaro, Lloyd, Chesney, Russell, Rauluni, Powell, De Vedia.
Referee: Chris White (RFU)
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