 Man of the match Martin Castrogiovanni celebrates his try |
Leicester (15) 25
Tries: S. Vesty, Rabeni, Castrogiovanni, White
Cons: Humphreys
Pens: HumphreysLondon Irish (11) 17
Tries: Tagicakibau
Pens: Armitage 4
Julian White's late try ensured victory for Leicester in a hard-fought game against London Irish at Welford Road.
The home side led 20-11 thanks to tries from Sam Vesty, Seru Rabeni and Martin Castrogiovanni, with Ian Humphreys adding a conversion and a penalty.
Two penalties from Delon Armitage, who kicked a total of 12 points, kept the Exiles in the hunt for victory.
But England prop White went over with five minutes left to put the Tigers into the Premiership play-off places.
Leicester coach Marcelo Loffreda made a total of 12 changes for the game and saw his side take the lead on seven minutes after some clever work by New Zealand centre Aaron Mauger led to full-back Vesty finishing coolly in the corner.
Humphreys converted but London Irish hit back on 24 minutes as Sailosi Tagicakibau finished a move involving nearly the whole of the back line.
Armitage missed the conversion but made amends with a penalty only for Humphreys, taking over from Andy Goode at fly-half, to respond in kind.
Fijian winger Rabeni crossed a minute before the break, pouncing on a perfectly-weighted grubber kick from Vesty.
But another Armitage penalty pegged the Tigers back and made the half-time score 15-11.
Irish, who lost centre Seilala Mapusua with a hand injury, had the wind behind their backs in the second half but Leicester's pack held the upper hand.
Tom Varndell, on as a blood replacement for Rabeni, seemed set to grab his eighth try of the season only for referee Tony Spreadbury to pull play back for a penalty.
But Italian prop Castrogiovanni crashed over for the Tigers before White's late try sealed the win.
Leicester boss Marcelo Loffreda:
"The win was important to give this team confidence. We lost the initiative for 20 minutes but got it back in the second half. "We dominated territory and had good control. We dominated the second half quite well.
"We talk a lot during the week about my ideas but there is not much time because the next game comes around so quickly. They are getting the idea and they are doing very well."
London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith:
"At 20-17 I thought we were in this and with the wind in our advantage, the boys kicked very well to get us field position. "We are looking at the game and wondering how the hell we came away with no points."
Smith on Samoan centre Seilala Mapusua:
"We are very concerned with Mapusua because he is a such a key player for us. He has definitely broken his hand and we are worried that he might have a spiral fracture on the top of his hand."
Leicester: Vesty, Murphy, Hipkiss, Mauger, Rabeni, Humphreys, Laussucq, Stankovich, Davies, Castrogiovanni, L Deacon, Wentzel, B Deacon, Croft, Crane.
Replacements: Kayser, White, Kay, Herring, Murphy, Smith, Varndell.
London Irish: D Armitage, Ojo, Tiesi, Mapusua, Tagicakibau, Geraghty, Hodgson, Geraghty, Hodgson; Dermody, Paice, Skuse, Kennedy, Casey, Danaher, Armitage, Murphy.
Replacements: Lea'aetoa, Coetzee, Hudson, Leguizamon, Thorpe, Richards, Hickey.
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