Leicester (12) 24
Pens: Dupuy 7 Drop: G Murphy

Gloucester (10) 10
Try: Balshaw Con: Barkley Pen: Barkley

Dupuy punished Gloucester for their continued indiscipline

Scrum-half Julien Dupuy kicked Leicester into second in the Premiership with a valuable win against leaders Gloucester at Welford Road.

The Frenchman slotted seven penalties, while Geordan Murphy added a drop-goal from inside his own half.

Gloucester struggled from the sin-binning of scrum-half Rory Lawson and lock Alex Brown but scored the game's only try through Iain Balshaw.

Tigers had tries from Tom Croft and Marco Wentzel disallowed.

Gloucester edged in front with an Olly Barkley penalty after five minutes but Leicester were soon back on level terms when Dupuy hit his first penalty after Gloucester were penalised in a ruck.

But the Tigers handed the visitors their try on a plate when a floated pass from fly-half Sam Vesty, making his 100th Premiership appearance, was easily picked off by Balshaw, whose score was converted by Barkley.

Leicester crossed themselves after 28 minutes but England flanker Croft's celebrations were short-lived as referee Wayne Barnes brought play back for a forward pass.

Instead, Dupuy took three more points to trim the lead when Gloucester were penalised for not rolling away in a ruck.

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And he added a third penalty before putting Leicester in front for the first time with the final play of the first half after Lawson was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on.

Dupuy could have stretched Leicester's lead further after the break as Gloucester were guilty of ongoing indiscipline but he pushed three long-range penalty attempts wide of the target.

He made amends with another three-pointer soon after as Gloucester continued to infringe but Leicester still could not break down their defence despite a forward barrage.

Props Marcos Ayerza and Martin Castrogiovanni were both held short of the line and winger Alex Tuilagi then knocked on when the ball was moved wide.

It fell to Dupuy to hit his sixth penalty after Brown was sin-binned for taking out Murphy off the ball and he landed the seventh with the final kick of the match after Murphy's 53m drop-goal ended a period of intense Leicester pressure.

Leicester acting head coach Richard Cockerill:

"The French are looking for a scrum-half and Julien [Dupuy] should be in the French team.

"He was outstanding today, he's been the signing of the season in the Premiership and he should be in the French side.

"I thought our performance was fantastic, in fact I thought it was our best performance in the past month.

"I thought the mentality of the players was first-rate. It reminded me of Welford Road how it should be and the fortress we have had in previous years."

Gloucester director of rugby Dean Ryan:

"This side is growing into a very strong and determined one in defence and with some physical capability.

"We are a bit down on strike-power but two young lads, Charlie Sharples and Henry Trinder, covered themselves in credit in what was the top-level clash during the Six Nations.

"Results don't always go in your favour, the yellow cards compounded the problem for us. But in the circumstances, I'm really pleased with how this side is showing itself when it gets the chances.

"We will play better than that, we will get a bit more rub of the green, but we have got to turn up like that every week and we have done for the last five weeks."

Leicester: G. Murphy, Hamilton, Smith, Mauger, Tuilagi, Vesty, Dupuy, Ayerza, Kayser, White, L. Deacon, Kay, Croft, Woods, Pienaar.

Replacements: Davies for Kayser (73), Castrogiovanni for White (58), Wentzel for Kay (53).

Not Used: Hemingway, Youngs, Hougaard, Erinle.

Gloucester: Morgan, Balshaw, Trinder, Barkley, Sharples, Spencer, R. Lawson, Wood, Azam, Somerville, Eustace, Brown, Narraway, Hazell, Delve.

Replacements: Foster for Sharples (72), Nieto for Wood (67), Bortolami for Eustace (50), Strokosch for Hazell (57).

Not Used: Titterrell, Pasqualin, Lamb.

Sin Bin: R. Lawson (39), Brown (65).

Att: 17,498

Ref: W Barnes (RFU).

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